Not everything that glitters is chrome....

As Microsoft and Yahoo announce their new search engine deal, this cartoon about the birth of google chrome is funny beyond words!

Hug me I am an Aizoner

OK, I don't believe that uppity people who blow 200 USD on a T-shirt are serious environmental defenders, but then, planting a tree is planting a tree.... Maybe this is just Aizone trying to jump on the Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) bandwagon....

Signs and omens

The graduating students in Mechanical Engineering at the Lebanese American University called their session the "Session of martyr Michael Jackson" (A pun on so many paramilitary groups calling themselves upon the names of dead action heroes - actually, lately the squdrons in question are now calling themselves after two dead action heroes, that's what happens when there are so many dead militia men!). The other picture goes "If you are Jeovah's witnesses or Free Patriotic Movement do not knock on the door." Too funny for words.

Akram Zaatari's Neruda's Garden blossoms at Beirut Art Center

Beirut Art Center is organizing a major solo exhibition of the work of Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari in collaboration with Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Beirut). The exhibition is divided into two parts that are being shown simultaneously at Sfeir-Semler Gallery and Beirut Art Center. At Beirut Art Center, Zaatari will present work that is based on the letters and photographs of a former Lebanese prisoner in Israel named Nabih Awada. Born in Aytaroun, Lebanon, in 1972, Nabih Awada joined the Lebanese resistance as a member of the Communist Party in 1986, and took part in several military operations against the Israeli army in Southern Lebanon before he was captured in September 1988. He was taken to a prison in Israel but could not be sentenced until two years later, when he turned eighteen. Nabih spent most of his sentence in Askalan Prison and was released in 1998. Zaatari’s installation at Beirut Art Center includes the works Neruda’s Garden, a set of photographs of documents, and Untold, an installation of photographs and videos. Neruda’s Garden15 photographs. Various sizes. While still in Askalan Prison, Nabih Awada’s communication with his family was restricted to letters, a few photographs, audiotapes, and one short video. Awada’s letters were written with an extremely positive tone, through which he tried to assure his family and friends that he was in good health, and that he was strong. Letters were signed with his nickname Neruda, and were often decorated with colorful flowers and with loving expressions. This work focuses on the difficulty of communicating situations of long isolation; in other terms, it focuses on all that Awada’s letters could never say. Untold A set of 48 photographs of prisoners, 2 videos and one light-box. This work focuses on all that remains unsaid among prisoners, and among resistance fighters in general. In Zaatari’s new video “Letter to Samir” (2008, 32 minutes), Nabih Awada writes a letter to Samir al-Qintar right after his release by the Israelis in July 2008. In his letter, Awada tells al-Qintar all what he cannot tell him in real-life, and carefully wraps the letter and seals it inside a plastic capsule. The video is presented against a backdrop of 48 photographs of prisoners in different prisons in Israel, all of which are dedicated to Awada. Exhibition co-produced with: Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Hamburg - Beirut) - Kunstverein Munich - Pixel Grain (Berlin) With the support of The Prince Claus Fund AKRAM ZAATARI Born in Saida, Lebanon, in 1966, Akram Zaatari is an artist who lives and works in Beirut. Throughout his oeuvre, Zaatari has been exploring issues pertinent to postwar Lebanon. A collector of testimonies, documents, and objects, his search focuses on the mediation of territorial conflicts and wars, the logic of religious and national resistance, and the production and circulation of images in the context of a geographically divided Middle East. Zaatari is a co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut), through which he has developed works by collecting, studying, and archiving a subjective photographic history, most notably studying the work of Lebanese photographer Hashem el Madani (1928-), as a register of social relationships and of photographic practices.

Chanel No Label 5....

As much as Chanel No 5 is flattering to women, Label 5 whisky isn't.... The new campaign that is hitting the billboards is truly blasphemous to women and casts them in the role of creatures will little or not virtue. One billboard features a man - the kind of middle aged investor with a woman on his side and the line: I know she's after my money. Another sees a woman kissing a man with the saying "I don't even know his name." The third is the face of a female and the heading "Plastic surgery made me gorgeous." Whereas there is little doubt that Whisky ads are generally geared towards men as a core audience, there is no need to actually humiliate women in the process....

Summertime and the advertising is easy....

Strange how flat this post-elections phase is!... Very few campaigns, and even less that are interesting. Yet, here's a small round up!... Al Balad newspaper has a new campaign whereby the country (Also the name of the newspaper) without "colors" (In reference to the colors of the political parties) is "clearer", "cleaner" etc..... Which I totally agree with - but the question is: Why does Al Balad need this campaign? Is it going to black and white? If not, why else? Then comes Ksara with "Every bottle tells a story" - with marriages, homecomings, and all that... Well, at least they ditched the usual earth colors. But still there is a long way to go for wines to break free from the mould they created for themselves. Last is that billboard by Progress Gold, which is lame but serves to illustrate a point - the days where billboards are a snapshot from TV commercials are long gone... In the very cute TV commerical, the build up between the two boys is impeccable. The older seems to think that he is drawing the cup by the power of his mind, and only later do we understand that the younger brother is the one moving the table cloth... In the billboard, is just a sorry image of the revealer which is just plain boring.

Bats and birds of America

Because there is so little going on in the advertising scene in Lebanon, I decided to go back to something that happened to me - almost day for day - in 2006. I was attending the Tin House Magazine litterary workshop, and on the first night Lorrie Moore was reading. Imagine the scene happening in Reed College in Portland - Oregon, the open air auditorium was packed to capacity with the audience facing Moore as trees stood behind her overlooking the pond. For a July night in a state with unpredictable weather, the air was mild with a small chill. I have to admit that prior to that prior to that night, I had never heard of Moore. She read a short story of hers, The Juniper Tree, which was published in The New Yorker in January 2005. Her gripping voice was haunting, her delivery crystal clear, and when she got to the part where she had to sing part of the National Anthem, the audience held its breath in order not to interfere with the majestic voice to which it was being treated. That night, as veteran journalist and editor at large of Tin House Elissa Schappell was struggling to interview Moore (One could only blame it on Shappell being star struck), one of the anticipated questions was: "Where do you get your inspiration from?"... Moore, envelopped in that neon halo that was being projected from the auditorium's lighting which was basking everything in an unrealistic hue simply looked up the trees from her deck chair and said: "Oh... There are bats here tonight!" By not answering the question directly, and implying such an oblique answer which in itself was full of inspiration, Moore delivered an unforgettable answer.... Moore's reading that night made the whole workshop worthwhile. Pity the whole trip went down the drain as I got stuck there for two months due to the July 2006 war. Moore's "Birds of America" of which I bought a copy later remains one of my favorite books with "Agnes of Iowa" and the majestic "People Like That Are the Only People Here" remains one of the most moving testimonials of writing about hospitals and illnesses.

A-Films: I love it when a film comes together

This just came in from A-films.... A-films is an autonomous anarchist media collective.we do video workshops in the middle east and europe and produce short films. In the release below they tell of their new works on Nahr El Bared camp in the North of Lebanon: We have recently published two short documentaries on the currentsituation in the destroyed Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp, Lebanon. They'reboth available online in multiple languages."A Sip of Coffee" (26min) follows a father and his son as they attempt todeal with their unemployment. The two have been living in metal barracksfor more than a year, waiting to return to their camp. By documentingissues of reconstruction, temporary housing, economy, unemployment anddespair, the film touches on the daily experience of life in Nahr al-BaredCamp. "A Sip of Coffee" can be watched and downloaded here: http://a-films.blogspot.com/2009/06/110609en.html "Two Years under Siege" (10min) deals with the siege imposed on Nahral-Bared Camp by the Lebanese army and the permit system. The co-owner ofan ice cream factory, the president of the local Trader's Committee andthe Imam of the al-Quds Mosque speak out on the siege and its economicconsequences. "Two Years Under Siege" can be watched and downloaded here: http://a-films.blogspot.com/2009/06/240609en.html a-films has produced several reports and short films on Nahr al-Bared Campwithin the past two years. All of them are available here: http://a-films.blogspot.com/search/label/nahr%20al-bared%20refugee%20camp

Najwa Karam's earworm

"Let me see you tonight, let me see you after sunset, there is not shame meeting at night, the night covers my sins/defects"... I never thought the day would come, but here I am blogging about the latest song from Najwa Karam - one of the Arabic songs most prestigious singers.

I remember on independence day, November 22nd 2007, I was serving in the army and Najwa Karam came to sing for the troops, what I witnessed that way was - from the top officers down to the latest recruit - was a frenzy of men barely able to control their hormones with Karam blasting the stage with incredible performance and a voice that would carry itself in all dignity through the fields of the Bequa'a valley. But this is not the reason why I am blogging about her.

And neither is the face that she is singing a song that would otherwise be called a social taboo under any other circumstance (A woman begging a man to meet her under the cover the night?)... But the fact that, with all due to respect to Najwa Karam's musical knowledge, she has created what musically called an earworm.

An earworm by definition is "a term for a portion of a song or other musical material that repeats compulsively within one's mind, known colloquially as "music being stuck in one's mind." Songs like Kylie Minogue's "Can't get you out of my head" or The Village People's "YMCA" or Queen's "We will rock you" are but obvious examples of songs to which you say: I can't get you out of my head (Pardon the pun!).... The secret to an earworm is simply minimal repetitive lyrics and a beat that goes on and one without much variation.

Listening to Najwa Karam's song last Tuesday made me repeat it over and over and over again as if someone pushed the loop button in my mind ever since. No wonder it will be the hit of the summer!

Metallic giraffes of the urban jungle.

It's been ages since I did any digital collage.... Then I come up with this!

Get YOUnique fingerprints from the police

I wonder if anyone can put something like "Director of the anti-timidness movement" (Like Adrianne Choiniere) or "President of the bikini national party" like Elvira Redmond, on their CV.... But it seems such high profile jobs get you sponsorship deals from the likes of Police eyewear. I have to admit though that the "Be YOUnique" signature was qute a find. Hmmm, I wonder though how come they missed photographing the toilet flusher of the Empire State Building (They guy who goes down from floor to floor doing nothing but flushing toilets to avoid the whole system from clogging)....

Gazernica....

(Photos by Antonio Olmos) So by now, it is old and stale news. But for the people living there, Gaza is a day to day occurence. Six months down the line, here is how Gaza still looks like..... Ignore it and it will not go away.

Majestic ad.

With straws of sodas in the shape of trumpets hailing to the whooping whopper, this ad is truly royal enough to announce the advent of Burger King onto Tripoli!

Bubbles, today....

Jeff Koons rose to stratospheric fame due to this sculpture of Michael Jackson and Bubbles, his pet chimp.... I just saw a new photo of Bubbles after Jackson had to let him go (As chimps grow too strong to become pets).... It is the end of an era indeed on many planes.

Jeff Koons - King of Kitsch

When I did my exhibition in Cleje, Slovenia, artist Tomaz Milaz commented that I showed them the limits of kitsch... Obviously, he was wrong... The new exhibition from Jeff Koons at Serpentine gallery even goes beyond all limits. The article by Jonathan Jones is a pleasure to read.

Lebanon Creative Cluster Conference cartoons by David Habchy

Getting to the essence of things!!!.....