Category Archives: Random

Winter in Lebanon: The Cedars

This past weekend, I decided to go with a couple of my cousins on a quick drive around the beautiful Lebanese North, which happens to be where I’m from.

The area in the pictures below is about a thirty minute drive from my hometown in the Batroun caza and the road is paved with gorgeous scenery as well. I had wanted to post this yesterday but the Telegraph article took precedence. Check out my commentary on that article here.

So in a way, this post will serve as further proof to what I presented in my commentary yesterday. Perhaps what was very surprising to me was that, despite it being a very sunny Saturday, the number of people hitting the Cedar slopes was very little compared to how popular Faraya seems to be even though this is a much nicer area to visit.

Moreover, while driving around these mountains, your mind is taken out of your car and to a whole other place altogether. You cannot simply drive around without forcibly stopping to try and take a picture that barely encompasses the beauty in front of you. They call the Cedar forest in North Lebanon: The Cedars of God. I think I know why it’s called as such: if God wanted to choose a place to live in (during winter), it’d be this.

It’s absolutely breathtaking.

The view from a town on the way: Hadath El Jebbe

Entrance of Bcharre, the city.

View from Bcharre, the city

Church in Bcharre

The Cedar Mountains as seen from Bcharre

Another view of the Cedar Mountains from Bcharre

Leaving Bcharre towards the Cedar Mountains

Note to self: Converses are a bad idea in such circumstances

Awesome house. Can you imagine living here in winter?

Your visit to the Bcharre region won't be the same without 2145 posters of gorgeous Setrida Geagea

The Cedars of Lebanon

The Cedars of Lebanon - again

The snow on the Cedar Mountains

Another view of the snow

The Cedar Forest from afar

 

And then, just before leaving, my cousins decided to remember my brother, Joseph, who happens to be in the US as a foreign exchange student. So this is to Joseph:

All these pictures were taken with my iPhone 4S and were not modified in any way.

The Church of Kopimism: File-Sharing is Now a Religion

Sweden recognized the Church of Kopimism as a full-fledged religious institution just prior to Christmas. The founding principle of this “church” is that file-sharing and copying is a sacrement that cannot be touched. The Swedish acknowledgment of this “church” does not, however, legalize the sharing of copyrighted material.

Their holy symbols? Yes, you guessed it: CTRL+C and CTRL+V for the keyboard shortcuts of copy and paste, respectively. Or if you’re awesome and you have a mac, then it’s ⌘+c and ⌘+v for you.

Members of this church, who call themselves Kopimists, hold events called “kopyactings” where members copy and share information with each other.

I don’t know about you but I find this whole thing very weird. But why would Sweden care. They were just ranked as  #7 out of the top 23 countries for work-life balance.

Walk of Causes – Lebanon

Matias and Jørgen are two Norwegian men have decided to do something that most Lebanese don’t even think about, or consider doing as one so gladly pointed out in the video I’m posting below as “bullsh*t”: Walk Lebanon from the North to the South, collecting donations from the people they encounter for good causes.

The first episode, the video of which can be found below, features them going around Lebanon’s gorgeous North. The money proceeds of that episode will go to the Lebanese Red Cross.

What’s interesting about this to me is, apart from the immensely interesting thing these men are doing, that I, as a Lebanese, have never been to the parts of Akkar they’re visiting. I also haven’t been to the Lebanese South, unless you count Saida as part of the South, which many don’t.

It goes to show how little we’ve really discovered firsthand of our country and I think this applies to the majority. However, we do excel at nagging. But no matter, behold the video:

And make sure you check out their Youtube page for other episodes.

Greenpeace Lebanon’s Secret Mission: Blue Shield 011 – Mission #1 – The Video

As a follow-up to my initial post about the matter, which you can check here, Greenpeace Lebanon has unveiled the first in a series of videos in their secret mission, which is slowly taking form.

You can check out the video here:

It’s not too late to get aboard the mission’s ship. All you need to do is follow this link and register your email. You’ll be receiving secret material as soon as it becomes ready. Video #2 will be up and ready very soon, from another region in Lebanon, to slowly expose the horrors going on with our waters, beaches, etc…

Change in Lebanon starts with these small steps, such as being more active even if it’s simply online.

 

Laylit Eid – Fairuz’s Christmas Song Live at her December 23rd Concert

Living Lebanese music legend Fairuz has had a series of concerts prior to Christmas. On her last date, December 23rd, she surprised the audience by concluding the concert with a series of Christmas songs, the most famous of which is the now timeless Laylit Eid.

We’ve all had our mothers, aunts, grandmas sing this for us as we grew up. Our schools taught us the song as part of Christmas recitals we were all forced to participate in. But nothing is more beautiful than to see Fairuz, at 80, entertain a crowd of thousands with her rendition.

She may not be as good a singer as she used to be. I may not be her biggest fan. But I can appreciate all of what she has given to Lebanon.

Christmas may be over but as I pointed out yesterday, Christmas is about giving. And by standing on a platform in a shimmering white gown that fits her age perfectly, Fairuz is giving every Lebanese who grew up listening to her a piece of their childhood and memories of happier times that will forever be engrained in their memories.

Or it could be that a friend and my aunt over-singing this over Christmas weekend has instilled in me the need to hear it by someone who can actually sing.