It might be legal, but it isn't fair....

The unmask the truth campaign is something I saw in the US and wanted to comment on. In the US law there is a loophole that allows US sparkling wines to be called "Champagne" which is a misuse of the appelation because Champagne refers to a geographical region in France rather than a category of wine in general... This being said, I am not going to go into the "Coke/Carbonated drink" or "Kleenex/Tissue paper" debacle, but I thought the campaign of "unmask the truth" was interesting however, I still think the original tagline "It might be legal, but it isn't fair" a much better one. Some thing it is on the defensive and victimizing side, but I thought it truly touched the nerve that exceptions do not make the rules.

Patrick Galey - Flight ET409 Exposes Lebanon's Racist Underbelly

Even though there were nine nationalities aboard the Boeing 737 jet which burst into flames and crashed into the sea minutes after taking off in a violent thunderstorm on Monday morning, the Lebanese, naturally enough, only concerned themselves with one. 54 Lebanese, almost all from the country's predominately Shiite southern region, are probably dead and the nation's outpouring of grief has been intense. Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared Monday to be a national day of mourning for the victims; the education minister closed institutions for two days as a mark of respect. The funeral of a southern businessman, who worked for a food import country in Angola, attracted international media attention, with veiled women throwing themselves on the coffin. Distraught friends and relatives are still thronging a hospital in southern Beirut, waiting to identify mangled bodies being dragged from the eastern Mediterranean. The search for the plane's black box is continuing, with families of victims waiting anxiously for clues on what befell flight ET409 in the seconds before disappearing off radar screens for good. As with any air disaster in a post 9/11 world, terrorism has been raised as a possible cause, with several Lebanese dailies carrying uncorroborated allegations that the crash was the result of a "deliberate attack." Whatever the cause of the disaster, it has exposed the uncomfortable and often unuttered truth that many Lebanese are still virulently racist. 23 migrant domestic workers from Ethiopia were onboard the ill-fated flight, along with at least seven airline crew members. The pilot was also Ethiopian. In the absence of concrete facts, Lebanon's transport minister suggested that pilot error may have downed the plane, with the jet having undertaking "a very strange and fast turn" seconds before crashing. This was all the information many media outlets needed. Naharnet, an English-language news site to be read with a shovelful of salt, carried the offensive headline: "Ethiopian pilot flew wrong way!" The complete lack of evidence aside, it is certain that no such exclamatory tone would have been used if the pilot were Lebanese. The inference here is simple: an Ethiopian pilot - silly him - ignored the learned Lebanese air traffic controllers (who have an exemplary record for departure punctuality) and his mad error killed 90 people. Such scandalous journalese, however, pales in comparison to the appalling treatment of friends and relatives of Ethiopian passengers. At Rafik Hariri International Airport, while wailing Lebanese family members were consoled by round after round of politicians, offered food and drink and drip fed information on victims as and when it was received, Ethiopian concerned were sidelined totally. Desperate women, dressed in the scrubs which often adorn domestic workers, pleaded with authorities for information only to be shepherded into a separate room from Lebanese mourners. DNA databases that will be used to identify mangled corpses are only being compiled from Lebanese blood samples. No Ethiopian has been asked to participate, even if relatives were on board. A normally well-respected broadcaster conducted a live piece to camera outside a hospital with their Beirut correspondent on Monday night. An Ethiopian, wracked with grief, unwittingly wondered into shot only to be literally hauled out of view by the Lebanese crew. Had she been Lebanese, it is unthinkable she would have been treated like this. Much has been written on the plight of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. The relatives of one Ethiopian victim said that their daughter was on the way home to Addis Ababa for good after years of being beaten by employers. To witness the neglect of friends and relatives left behind in Lebanon will offer Ethiopian families no comfort. The BBC even commissioned a special report on the Lebanese diasporas in Western Africa. No such article was mooted for the reverse demographic. It is entirely understandable for news agencies and civilians to take interest in their own nationals during times like this. But to systematically sideline, even vilify Ethiopian victims, many of whom would have led a pitiful existence in Lebanon in domestic servitude, exudes exactly the opposite of the mercy relatives of Lebanese victims are pleading for. In times of disaster, people let down their guard. The disaster of flight ET409 showed large parts of Lebanese society for what it is.

USA TODAY - Friday 22nd of January BEIRUT RECLAIMS ITS COWN

BEIRUT — On a mild Tuesday evening in downtown Beirut, the city's young and beautiful are bellying up to the hottest night spot, the bohemian Gemmayzeh neighborhood. Model-chic Beiruti women, sporting skinny pants, stiletto boots and cascading tresses, cluster in groups or with dates inside the hip bars, pubs and restaurants that line this milder Middle East version of Bourbon Street. Not far away, in the Old World-style Albergo boutique hotel, visiting Michelin-starred chefs from France are dishing out meals for a sold-out crowd that takes Beirut's sophisticated dining scene for granted. During the summer, the trendy flock to swank rooftop clubs — Noir, Sky Bar or White Bar, where Champagne bottle service can run $10,000 — to dance till dawn. Call it Sex and the City meets South Beach. Beirut's sizzling nightlife, from gritty to glam, helped drive a record tourism year in 2009. Overcoming a reputation as a Middle East trouble spot, Lebanon welcomed nearly 2 million visitors last year, a 39% increase over 2008. It was the No. 1 destination for tourism growth in the world, according to the World Tourism Organization. 'Joie de vivre' draws Arabs, Westerners "Lebanon is back," Nada Sardouk, Lebanon's tourism director general, told the Middle East news agency AMEInfo.com in December. "We've had 80% to 90% hotel occupancy this year. But it's more than about just numbers. ... It's about the joie de vivre." That exuberance is drawing mainly Gulf Arabs for the liberal lifestyle, Mediterranean climate and beaches; returning Lebanese expats; and intrepid Westerners. After years of political turmoil and war, a newfound security and calm has settled over this parliamentary democracy, ushering in a renaissance, however fragile. Although Lebanon is still on the U.S. State Department travel warning list, Beirut itself was virtually free of sectarian violence last year. The peace dividend is evident in tony new hotels, sleek malls and office towers, and a vibrant arts and music scene, which draws the likes of Snoop Dogg and international DJs. One anticipated newcomer is Le Gray, a chic boutique hotel that British hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray opened in November. Over roasted quail in its rooftop Indigo restaurant, Campbell Gray gushes about this city of 2 million. "Beirut is a real city, with real history and edge. That makes it sexy," he says. "I find it beguiling, exciting, damaged, vain, beautiful. This is the new hot place." Four Seasons president Kathleen Taylor is equally bullish. "We're very pleased with our timing," Taylor says of the new seaside Four Seasons, which opened this month. "There's a real resurgence of interest in Beirut." Hotel guests will find a heady mix of cultures and religions — European flavor, French colonial legacy and Middle Eastern intrigue in arguably the most tolerant city in the Arab world. In this pluralistic society with 18 religious groups — primarily Muslims and Christians — one's religious affiliation defines one's politics. "My identity is my religion first, and Lebanese, second," says Rita Aad, who works for a foreign embassy. The mosaic can be disorienting: Mosques sit cheek by jowl with churches and monasteries. Image-obsessed women in revealing outfits — some showing off their nose-job bandages — stroll alongside women covered from head to toe. The muezzins' lilting call to prayer mingles with European techno blaring from passing cars. And the trilingual locals are apt to greet each other in a mélange of Arabic, French and English while cheek-kissing — three times, no less. As this onetime Paris of the Middle East dons its new face, gleaming skyscrapers brush up against pockmarked cement skeletons that still await makeovers 20 years after the end of Lebanon's civil war. Meanwhile, Beirut's 5,000-year-old historic core is being transformed by urban development group Solidere. Restored golden limestone buildings, aglow at sunset, now house cafés and boutiques, where fashionistas can mainline Cartier and Fendi. This area "symbolizes the whole country," says Solidere's development head Angus Gavin. "All the different religions are represented here." Indeed, layers of history reveal a Roman bathhouse, St. George's Greek Orthodox Church, the landmark Mohammed al-Amin mosque and showpieces from the Ottoman and French Mandate eras. To reconcile Beirut's brutal past — the city has been destroyed and reconstructed seven times — Solidere is creating a Garden of Forgiveness and an interpretive heritage trail that's due this spring. New buildings are going up, too. Traditional souks have been reborn as a modern open-air mall lined with designer stores. In the new Sayfeh Village, the moneyed live in chic pastel condos surrounded by antique shops and galleries. "Beirut bounces back quickly," Gavin says. "It's an extraordinary characteristic of the Lebanese, like a life force." A playground among the ruins That survivor mentality causes people to seize the moment — partying with passion, despite power outages and brutal traffic. "Beirut is like a Lebanese Babylon, where Arabs can dance on tabletops, swim in bikinis and kiss their girlfriends in public," says British journalist Warren Singh-Bartlett, a 12-year resident. In summer, the famous beach clubs hold their own against the playgrounds of Greece and Spain. Whether on the beach or in the smoky cafés — Lebanon has one of the world's highest smoking rates — conversation inevitably turns to politics, given the volatile history and many minorities all jockeying for position. With a frisson of danger never far from the surface, "there's a subversive appeal," Singh-Bartlett says. "You go to a swanky restaurant serving Japanese-Spanish fusion and leave and see bombed-out ruins. But you don't have to worry about being mugged on the street, only about being invaded." Indeed, the legendary Lebanese warmth and hospitality engenders a sense of safety. When this visitor asks directions of a male pedestrian, she is graciously offered a ride to her destination — and doesn't hesitate to accept. "Beirut is a very strange and complex city," says Sandra Dagher, Lebanese co-director of the year-old Beirut Art Center, a warehouse-turned-exhibit space that would be right at home in SoHo. That complexity is on full display along the Corniche, the palm-lined boulevard hugging the coast for miles, which draws tout Beirut. On soft evenings, people gather to suck on hookahs packed with flavored tobacco while knots of men pole-fish patiently. Young couples stroll hand-in-hand, oblivious to soldiers in fatigues. And everyone, it seems, deeply inhales the balmy sea air as if to hold onto this moment of peace forever.

SFMOMA@75

The 75th anniversary show of the MOMA here in SF was "uneven" - the photography section was practically flawless in concept and scenography, it is the painting part that is so much haphazard and up in the air. Still, wherever Jeff Koons' sculpture of Michael Jackson and Bubbles is displayed, something must be good.... Also a personal favorite is Larry Sultan's "Images from home" displayed above. Who knows, maybe at 100 they will get it right!

SF Sans Facon....

So here are so sights from around the streets of San Francisco.... On top a very interesting project on Market street. These faces are done with wrinkled maps of the city to create stereotypical characters (Street artist, visitor, van driver, etc...).

Then comes the very interesting ad from Virgin America, with a bit of communistic propagandist intonations. But it is the headline that steals the spotlight: "Travel like a rock star, pay like a cover band."

And since this weekend is the 75th anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), it's branch here in San Francisco is launching a campaign about the museum as a muse in itself. The beautiful "double" ads complement each other - the "muse" first (Several artists such as Picasso, Warhol, etc...) and then ",um" which is the ubiquitous pause anyone makes before launching a statement (in this case famous actors, singers, opinion makers) who utter their views about the first part of the panel. I normally hate "diptych" ads because I always believe any ad can be concentrated in one panel, except that the SFMOMA is one of those stricking examples that work otherwise.

The bride of... San Francisco?

A mural incorporating Soha Bechara in San Francisco? Dubbed the "bride of the South" (3arous el janoub) in Lebanon back when she was still incarcerated, Soha Bechara was later released in 1998 and up to my knowledge is now settled in Switzerland where she is married with a child (And if my understading is correct) a degree in poliical sciences. Still, seeing her braided hair and very young face once more (Before she turned into the mature woman she eventually became) reminded me of so many posters I saw in small shops around Hamra street in Beirut,

Text taken from Gallery 16's blog

By CHLOE VELTMAN Published: January 9, 2010 Typography is ubiquitous. A world without letters, numerals and symbols designed by skillful font makers would consist of boring billboards, pages and street signs. Yet unlike other forms of applied design, typography remains an obscure and little-understood field. When buildings are constructed, they make news. A new font barely registers in the public consciousness. In the 1980s and ’90s, however, the Bay Area was at the forefront of a movement to change this reality. The work of the graphic design company Emigre, based in Berkeley, is the focus of an exhibition of artwork and artifacts at Gallery 16 in San Francisco. An accompanying book, “Emigre No. 70: The Look Back Issue — Celebrating 25 Years in Graphic Design,” further stresses the efforts of a group of graphic designers (mainly locals) to elevate design in general — and typography in particular — to an art form. But over the years, frictions between the forces of art and commerce have hindered Emigre’s cause. In today’s environment, where fonts can be created and replicated by anyone with a personal computer (United States copyright law does not extend protection to typeface design), the idea that a font can be an objet d’art in its own right seems like a utopian reverie. “Emigre was born out of a ‘digital dream,’ ” the graphic designer Erik Adigard, based in Sausalito, wrote in an e-mail message. “But it was short-lived. Emigre is history, even if still somewhat of a cult.” Yet the marriage between a font’s beauty of form and the context in which it is employed is what makes the written word jump off the page. In striving to demonstrate this truth, Emigre deserves our attention. Founded in 1984 by the husband-and-wife team of Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko, Emigre was influential on the graphic design scene in the ’80s and ’90s. This was partly because of the company’s magazine, also called Emigre. First a quarterly and later a seminannual, it featured innovative typefaces and posters; eye-catching photography; offbeat profiles of writers and artists; and wide-ranging critical essays on subjects like the Bauhaus movement and the legibility of fonts. Although the magazine no longer exists, Emigre still operates as a font foundry; its library houses more than 300 typefaces. From 1984 to 2005, Emigre magazine achieved cult status. With their unconventional and striking use of fonts, publications like Wired and McSweeney’s, both based in San Francisco, owe it a debt. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the entire Emigre magazine canon for its permanent design collection, and put the magazines on display for a year. “For me, like many others galvanized by graphic design during Emigre’s heyday, the magazine was the most consistently interesting design publication produced anywhere by anyone,” the design journalist Rick Poynor wrote in 2005. Emigre chronicled a revolution in typography that went hand in hand with the birth of the personal computer, which brought new methods for creating type. (It’s perhaps no accident that Emigre and the Macintosh computer made their debuts in the same year.) The transformation also ran in tandem with the rise of postmodern theories then popular in art schools concerning the aesthetics of utilitarian design. Such ideas helped to free font design from the constraints of functionality. Possibly for the first time since the elaborate but often illegible opening capital letters of medieval illuminated manuscripts, font designers didn’t have to worry about readability and reproducibility. Going beyond the no-nonsense look of archetypal typeface families like Times and Helvetica, designers in Emigre’s orbit, like John Hersey, Joachim Müller-Lancé and Ms. Licko, saw font design as a form of creative expression. With its thick-contoured, cartoonish forms, Mr. Hersey’s Blockhead typeface won’t be used for street signs anytime soon, but the fonts are eye-catching. The same could be said of Ms. Licko’s aggressive and angular Oblong typeface. For all the theoretical debate and creative output inspired by Emigre, the font-as-art movement seems to be over. The commercial interests in the fast-paced digital age have reduced typeface design to cookie-cutter templates and formulas. Unbridled innovation has largely been supplanted by nostalgic exhibitions and commemorative books. Emigre magazine’s demise may be symptomatic of the fact that it was primarily a showcase for the company’s fonts. Its journalistic endeavors often supported the founders’ business goals, as is evidenced by its numerous articles denouncing designer-unfriendly typeface copyright laws. But Griff Williams, owner and director of Gallery 16, wrote in an e-mail message: “For me, the lesson learned from Emigre is that business and art can coexist. The typeface business was a guise to deliver content in profoundly interesting ways. Not the other way around.” Mr. VanderLans was grappling with the tension between art and commerce while publishing his magazine. “The entrepreneurial element, which is crucial to the existence of any subculture, avant-garde or underground work, is largely overlooked when assessing the work, because to most people, whenever the commercial aspects become prominent, it somehow taints the work and renders it less pure or authentic,” he wrote in Emigre in 1995. “Yet it’s difficult to imagine how any movement can operate without a concentrated effort to make money.”

The new animated ad for iloubnan.com - superb animation and graphics. On the whole Beirut/NTSC loves the ad, but cannot stop thinking about the what ifs in terms of copy - which is sadly too blunt and not creative as if merely recreating the original concept rather than adding to it. Still, a laudable effort!

Nokia - a comparative ad!

According to the Lebanese media and advertising law there is nothing against competitive advertising but companies have an honor code whereby theyjust say things like "Masters potato chips - it tastes better" (ta3mo atiab)... Only once was the rule broken by Andre Rizk fro Brinol buthe was made to pixelize the competition.... So this is very interesting: An ad for Nokia in Lebanon with a direct comparison to Blackberry.

1am - the street art insomniacs.

1 am (Short for 1st amendment) is a street art gallery with strong ties to the community... Their circle of life show is a pleasure to see (With ArtNowSF) is a delight to see, Jaime Salazar's work "Do the Normal Rockwell" (featured on the invitation card) is an incredible piece of irony whereby a 50's era housewife is seen watching Beyonce's video of "Single ladies (put a ring on it)"... "If you liked it you should have put a ring on it" - very fitting for a ring-shaped artwork!

Le p'tit Laurent... a super(tramp) breakfast in Amercia.

Can anyone forget that incredible introduction for the Supertramp's song Breakfast in America on ther album "Live in Paris"? The words of saxophone player John Helliwell could easily be the best intro for a live song ever: "We went to a petit restaurant and had langostinos, deux types of spaghetti, une type of ravioli, beaucoup de vin and deux grande espressos. Sorry, but.... it was an italian restaurant, but it wasn't as good as Breakfast In America!" The problem is - the best Breakfast in America is actually a French restaurant. Well, not so sure about the breakfast as I only had dinner there.... I am still recovering from the incredible experience.

Global warming and Faraya....

Charlie and Samuel - no sorry! Bird & Beckett.

Found next to Glen Park, Bird & Beckett named after Charlied (Bird) Parker the jazz musician and Samuel Beckett is a small gem in the neighborhood - their "jazz in the bookstore" sessions is a delight. Their answer in Beirut, La Cedetheque will be closing by the end of January 2010... Sad, really.

Smint: Clementine flavor.

Well, for a very, very long time I watched in agony the works of the new Clementine agency. There was nothing to report. Until now that is.... Finally, Sami Saab got it right with the new Smint ads (Well, Ok, we got it right with ONE of them, but it still counts....

Viggo Mortensen: Not just hired for his looks!

Currently, BeirutNTSC has no original content... But in the meantime, here are some very funny quotes from Viggo Mortensen:

ON BEING VOTED THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE So there are a lot of dead men who are sexier? (2006)

ON TREES I look at them as I look at people. I get along well with most trees. If I get into arguments with them, it's probably my own fault (2008)

ON BEING HOT PROPERTY I've been told I've arrived so many times, I don't know where I ever went (1999)

ON NOT WINNING AN OSCAR FOR "EASTERN PROMISES" Ninety-nine per cent of the [other] losers didn't want to do the losers' dance with me. They also sort of ran from me like I was some shitfaced drunk (2009)

ON HIS PAINTINGS A couple of days ago, l looked at all of them and I was like, "I don't know what these are." Then it snowballed: "What kind of actor am I anyway? What kind of father? God, I'm such a vain, self-involved creature, and I should just stop making these things and inflicting them on people!" I can see why people jump out of windows (1999)

ON MISSING HIS HORSES WHILE AWAY FILMING They're terrible at writing letters (2006)

ON LIFE'S LITTLE PLEASURES I usually pee outside my house. There's nothing nicer than peeing at night, looking at the stars, smoking a cigarette (2009)

ON LOSING SOME OF HIS POEMS There is no point in trying to remember and rebuild the word houses, word hills, word dams and word skeletons (2004)

ON NUDITY I don't mind doing nude scenes in movies. Actors who say they do are lying (2001)

ASKED HIS FAVOURITE JOKE Me (2009)

HIS POEM "CHACO" "I shit in the forest / like the monkeys / with their teeth / perfect and yellow / having no fear / of any tiger" (1995)

WHILE MAKING THE FILM "PRISON" After this movie wraps, I'm thinking of going into goat-herding, like my mother and her mother before her (1987)

TO ELVES ON THE SET OF "LORD OF THE RINGS" When you are done with your nails, we are being attacked (2001)

ON THE INVASION OF IRAQ It was obvious to everyone that it was a movie that was green-lit (2004)

ASKED WHERE HE'S BASED Planet earth – mostly (2008)

What is power?

Inspired by Alain de Botton's observation that '2009 will be the year when questions of how society should be arranged ... will enter the mainstream with a vengeance', Think Tank at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art presents collaborations between Britain's social policy makers and leading designers. The exhibition runs until 13 February 2010

Uncle sam wants.... what?

Interesting ads coming from defeatthedebt.com - the use of the imagey of uncle Sam is smart and evoking.... Apparently this was accompanied by some live action in the streets of Chicago according to the website. Now, sensibilizing Americans to financial matters though is a very, very complex affair. Maybe not even uncle Sam could do it....

I smell a rat....

OK, where is this picture taken? In some third world shantytown? In some obscure place where there is no access to hygiene? In some aboriginal setting? Guess again - welcome to Washington DC.

Survivor: Eye of the tiger.

"A fortnight is a long time in politics"... Well, in advertising terms, it is an eternity. So imagine my surprise seeing the now dumped Tiger Woods, still representing Accenture at the Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.... However, now everything seems tainted with irony. So when one of the ads says "ceci n'est pas un revers, c'est un test" (This is not a setback, this is a test) one cannot but wonder what the next instalment of the Tiger Woods saga would be. Still, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Pop influenced card

Sohat: Local mineral water meaning "health" - Afia: Frying oil which translates into "well-being". Put together this gives "May you experience health (Sohat) and well-being (Afia) throughout the year" - someone sent this to me and its origin is sadly unknown.

Abou ras 2010 wishes

The humor of Deborah Phares sometimes gets lost in translation... Maybe that's the point! Trying to show that not everything is translatable.. Still, enjoy this wicked card that just came through the email. Beirut/NTSC is officially on Holiday though!...