Category Archives: Life

Lebanese Beer Almaza’s Ad to Support the Jeita Vote

They always make awesome ads, don’t you think?

In the meantime, vote people, vote!

13 Reasons to Vote for Jeita Grotto

You know what?

Lebanese suck.

We really do. We need to bash EVERYTHING. There’s NOTHING that can take place in the country that is not frowned upon or looked down upon or criticized.

The latest? People are criticizing the whole “Vote for Jeita” campaign, with about 3 weeks left on the vote. They can’t even accept that the competition is NOT scam.

“Jeita doesn’t deserve to be a wonder,” is one of the things I’ve heard. “Why charge for the SMS to vote?” is another. “If the government wants Jeita to win, why don’t they vote?”

All of us need to want Jeita to win. Not the government. Not anyone else. We, as a people, should be proud that our country has something that has gained enough international recognition from international panels that judged Jeita as being worthy of being one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Regarding the SMS vote: The New 7 Wonders committee DOES NOT accept free SMS votes.  The 10 cents charge we pay is one enforced by the New 7 Wonders committee. The government is not charging anything. I’ve voted 35 times so far and it barely caused a dent in my prepaid credit. And you know what, even if it did – I don’t care.

I recently stumbled on this blog post where they make out the vote for Jeita as some form of “national chauvinism,” saying that we need to study the other 27 finalists in order to make an informative vote. On that same post, a comment by “Noel” states that our “need” to have Jeita win is because we, as Lebanese, need “validation from some outside authority.”

Sure, our country is messed up in many ways. But I believe we have a lot to be grateful for. However, can we  – FOR ONCE – stop being so pessimistic about everything that has to do with Lebanon? Can we just chill for a bit, sit back, relax and not overanalyze everything? Can we seriously cut it with the know-it-all attitudes and for once feel good that Lebanon is actually getting a reputation for itself apart from the whole war-torn country now sex-capital of the Middle East?

But here are 13 reasons why we all need to vote for this wonder:

1) Jeita is spectacular

2) Jeita is wonderful

3) Jeita is grandiose

4) Jeita is brilliant

5) Jeita is gorgeous

6) Jeita is poetic

7) Jeita is angelic

8) Jeita is radiant

9) Jeita is exquisite

10) Jeita is majestic

11) Jeita is sublime

12) Jeita is elegant

13) Jeita makes me proud to be Lebanese. And so should you!

Also quick info for you out there:

Jeita is the only limestone cave among the 28 nominees. Most of Jeita cannot be accessed by visitors. For instance, the lower cave is over 6000 meters long, only 500 of which are accessible to visitors via boats. Moreover, the upper cave is over 2000 meters in length, only 750 of which are accessible to the public. Jeita also has the world’s longest stalactite at 8.2m high.

And for those of want to vote, you can go to this link or check out this picture:

And for those outside Lebanon, you can vote via the website: http://www.new7wonders.com or text Jeita to your country’s corresponding number:

Also check out this ad featuring opposing Lebanese politicians, beauty queens and actors to promote the vote:

Back in 2008, the US was invited to Barrack the vote. This is our time to rock the vote, Lebanese-style.

Come on Lebanon: Vote For Jeita Grotto for the New 7 Wonders of Nature

The final stretch of the vote is here: we have one month left.

I know we’ve all gotten tired of it but we can’t let down now. We’re almost there.

And I have good news for you.

We can now vote via text – no more those long registration steps and choosing six other wonders we don’t really care about.  And no, it’s not even an expensive text. Shocker, I know. We must really want to win for not using this to make money. It’s simply 10 cents per vote.

What to do?

Send the word “Jeita” to 1070. You’ll receive a reply acknowledging your vote.

So vote. And vote frequently.

And for those who are always short on credit, you can always use your many emails to make accounts on: http://www.new7wonders.com

RIP Steve Jobs

The world lost one of its few visionaries a few hours ago.

Today, we bid farewell to Steve Jobs, the man who single handedly moved the technological world into the future with his inventions: iPhone, iPod, iPad, Macbook…

Steven Spielberg has called Steve Jobs the “Thomas Edison of our times” and deservedly so. It’s very easy to imagine a world that didn’t have Steve Jobs – one where we’d all still be using phones with keypads that only serve their basic function, where our notebooks constantly crashed, where we didn’t feel inspired by a company  to advance in our lives and where we were content with what we had.

It’s very easy to criticize Apple. But it’s also very easy to look at what Steve Jobs did for Apple and the world and be amazed by how talented this man was and how great his achievements are.

Today we bid farewell to Steve Jobs. But the chapter in our history and present that Steve Jobs has opened will not close anytime soon. It will live on – just like the legacy of this man. It will never die.

Steve Jobs has been through the hardships of life. He was born for an out of wedlock couple, in a time where such a thing was frowned upon. He was put up for adoption. He dropped out of college. And yet, for someone who has been through so much, he sure left his mark in the world.

RIP Steve Jobs. The world will miss you. Thank you for being the great man that you are. Thank you for changing the world.

Miss Lebanon Yara Khoury-Mikhael at Miss Universe 2011

As I sat with my friend Elia contemplating the beauty of having lots to do and not doing any of it, she showed me this great video of our beauty queen Yara Khoury-Mikhael, proudly and enthusiastically representing our awesome country at the Miss Universe pageant.

I understand she’s just nineteen. But come on, she should have grown out of this stupidity and into another level of maturity by age fifteen.

But hey, at least now we have a thing in common between tigers and women. What is it? Yup, posture. After all, women are better than men because they can drive and talk on the phone and do their nails at the same time. They also get into accidents. But who cares right?

Just a word though… everyone who was paid off to vote her as Miss Lebanon needs to be sued. It’s not like last year’s representative was even better. At least this one can string a grammatically coherent English sentence, albeit being totally devoid of plausible meaning. Any girl on the street would give a better answer to the alien question. A simple yes or no answer would have been more honorable.

Yara Khoury-Mikhael, you are shallower that the children’s pool in swimming resorts and I am ashamed to say you represent my country, even if it’s just a useless beauty pageant.

And if you’re absolutely mesmerized by her, here’s the lesson she’s trying to give: posture is evolutionary important, along with non-existent multitasking, as the main difference between men and women, who happen to share some of that posture-ness with awesome tigers who like to go on the wild side – if you know what I mean.

 

For my opinion on her “Congo” comment, click here.