Category Archives: Lebanon

The Pope Might Cancel Lebanon Trip… For Security Reasons.

The September 14-16 visit of pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon is no longer set in stone and might be canceled at any moment, as reported by Naharnet. (Source).

The reason for that? The troubling situation in Syria and whatever effect it might have on the security of Lebanon.

The last Papal visit to Lebanon was in 1997 by John Paul II. Back then, the Syrian army roamed free in most of Lebanon and the Israeli army occupied the South. However, that didn’t deter the late Pope from coming in to see his people, who had been waiting for such a visit in persecution for a long, long time.

If Pope Benedict XVI ends up canceling his trip, I’ll be disappointed because of what such a cancellation represents: the fear of a Pope for his own life, when in reality there’s no threat, more so than the lives of the people he’s supposed to be visiting.

What a Pope’s supposed to do isn’t hide away behind security pretentiousness and actually visit the congregation that doesn’t have that prerogative and who has been through ordeals upon ordeals, partly because of the faith of which he’s the current “reference.”

The sad part is the pope actually visited Israel, Palestine and Jordan back in 2009. I guess there are no security concerns in Occupied Palestine. None at all.

A Vatican high-horse is better than Lebanese hole, apparently. Truly inspiring from the Pope. I feel more Christian already.

The Lebanese Brew Ad Campaign: Try Something Brave… the Last Summer on Earth

I blogged several months ago about a great ad video by Lebanese Brew: Courage is Contagious.

The message behind that video was about the importance of being courageous enough to be free in life. And it extremely well done.

Well, who knew Lebanese Brew can come back with an even better campaign this time around?

Not straying away from their previous message, the Try Something Brave campaign is here: Going out of your comfort zone and doing things that you never thought you’d do, on the last summer on Earth.

All of these amazing ads are part of a video that has creativity & ingenuity written all over it:

Can I say brilliant? Can I say awesome? Can I say I got goosebumps?

This is probably the first time I’d want to try something after an ad campaign. I really want to have some Lebanese Brew right now.

Check out the campaign’s website by clicking (here) – it will redirect you to their Facebook page where a countdown for a smartphone app (for both iOS and android) is taking place. Almost 90 hours to go until you can get the app and try something brave. I’ll make sure to let you know about the app too.

Cheers to Lebanese creativity!

Update: The agency that did these is Interesting Times. I mention this because I think these ads are such a breath of fresh air that I need to congratulate the agency, even though they don’t need me. They have this feel of Lebanese friends sitting together and coming up with them – very authentic and very refreshing. A job truly well done, Interesting Times! 

The Conclusion of the Myriam Klink and Nemr Abou Nassar “Cat” Fight

This is a Lebanese meme done by twitter user @RachaMneimne and, even though I said I wouldn’t blog about the whole thing again, I think this is way too spot-on to be passed on.

Racha has also had the following to say, as a reply to Nemr’s 30 minute rant in which he declared Myriam Klink and other like hers as being “whores” who couldn’t take criticism but can take other things easily, “full pun intended.”

Hey Nemr Why So Angry? “Have a Sense of Humor, For The Love of God!”

 As a sum-up, here’s what Lebanon has been busy with for the past few days.
  1. Myriam Klink’s performance of her song “3antar” surfaced. (Check it here)
  2. Nemr Abou Nassar noticed the video and made a big deal of it. Twitter drama with Klink ensued. Everyone started making fun of her as well. (Check it here).
  3. Nemr Abou Nassar went on his radio show and had a full-blown rant about the state of the music industry. I’ve seen many people call it EPIC. I see it as everything but. (Check it here).
Finally, thank you Racha for telling it like it is.

The Myriam Klink Saga: Nemr Abou Nassar Replying to her on Radio

Remember when I said Nemr will be using Myriam as one of his sources? Well, it didn’t take long. Here’s a full-blown 30 minute radio show about Klink and about what he thinks she represents of Lebanese society.

I don’t listen to Lebanese radio so this is my first time hearing this. I agree with him on many points that are raised. Our music scene is despicable.

However, how’s calling women whom you don’t approve of whores and sluts part of the Lebanese culture you’re trying to bring forward?

Is Myriam Klink giving Lebanese women a bad image? Only people who categorize a whole population based on a distorted perception would think so. And we are fueling that, giving way more attention than necessary to those we “deem” inappropriate.

Simply put, Nemr Abou Nassar has given Myriam Klink 30 minute of radio time during prime time, which she wouldn’t have dreamed of. He even says the MixFM site crashed. He has made her almost as famous as he is in almost one day. Does he think the points he raised will resonate with her or those who like her? I doubt.

I’m pretty sure if Nemr had discovered Nancy Afiouny before or Lara Kay, this whole debaccle would have been a repeat. In fact, I’m sure both Nancy Afiouny and Lara Kay would kill for the publicity Klink has gotten in 48 hours.

Anyway, both sides of the dispute have said their share. Can we refocus on important things now? Li2anno sara7a, shi bila33e. 

And this is the last Myriam Klink/Nemr Abou Nassar post I’ll have here. Enough with giving attention to the both of them.

Myriam Klink vs Nemr Abou Nassar, Myriam Klink Is Everywhere… Enough is Enough, Lebanon!

Hello bundle of hotness…

I never thought that after posting about Myriam Klink yesterday morning that I’d come back home in the afternoon to find that post with hundreds upon hundreds of hits and Klink all over the place.

It was funny at first. Comedian Nemr Abou Nassar picked up on it and started picking on Myriam via twitter who didn’t let him down and actually replied.

The following are some of Nemr’s tweets:

And some of Myriam’s tweets:

Everyone else, including yours truly, is talking or has talked about Myriam Klink as well. Obviously, no one has anything nice to say. She’s officially a representation of everything going wrong in the country, everything that we need to burn down, everything that we need to hate.

The past month or so? A distant memory. No. The only thing wrong currently is Myriam Klink’s song.

Sure, it’s a horrible song. It’s something that shouldn’t even be put on airways. But that didn’t stop many “singers” before Myriam Klink from releasing songs and eventually not making it. The only artist that “made” it with a sultry attitude is Haifa Wehbe. And even she knows her show is less about her singing and giving art than about actually giving a show.

Nemr Abou Nassar will be using Myriam Klink as a much-needed source of jokes in his upcoming comedy shows. He even has one scheduled for tonight and, surprise surprise, it’ll be all about her. On the other hand, Myriam Klink’s video jumped from 1000 views on youtube yesterday morning to over 26K today. Her twitter followers have also doubled overnight to about 2000. I’m getting referrals to my blog from people googling her name.

She has officially made it.

And yet, people don’t seem to let go. I’ve never had a subject burn on me as fast as this. In the past 24 hours since Myriam Klink was first exposed, she exploded with such a magnitude that any Myriam Klink related tweet today is causing me nausea. People have nothing better to do?

So for all matters and purposes, leave Myriam Klink alone and she’ll get back to what she does best all by herself. As for everyone else, here’s how it should break down.

You like the song? Then listen to it with your earphones on as much as you want.

You hate the song? Then express your hate without calling Myriam Klink the stupidest person that has ever walked the Earth. She actually has a biology degree, if that proves anything.

You hate Myriam Klink? I don’t see why you should. But if you do, then fine. Just don’t let me know in every single waking moment that you consider her an abomination.

You like Myriam Klink? She sure is lovable. And you’re so rare that I’ll give you a free-pass for now. But if you’re gonna shove her down my throat…. Never mind, you can do that as much as you want.

The whole point is: when it comes to Myriam Klink, enough is enough.

Update: Nemr has had a radio show in which he had a 30 minute rant about Myriam Klink. Check it out here.