The X-Files Generation

We all remember the X-files TV series back from the 90s and early 2000s. Personally I was (and still am) a huge fan who never got the chance to really watch all the episodes of the 9 seasons that raided our screens for 9 whole years. Back then I was young and foolish to waste time at work and at chasing girls that I skipped most of the episodes.

Thanks to the internet and to the piracy tools, I was able to get hold of all 201 episodes spanning all 9 seasons and I ended up being the proud owner of 50GB worth of AVI files. Again, I had them on my HDD for the last 2 years and never got the chance to watch any episode. With a wife, kid and a whole new life to adapt to I barely had a chance to watch the X-files. I did however watch every other Sci-fi and thriller movie and series out there.

All that changed a couple of months ago when a blood work result forced me to buy a treadmill and do some serious exercise. I knew that the only way to keep me on a treadmill for more than 10 minutes is to distract myself with something really attractive and that is how I got the chance to watch the X-files episodes.

This post is not about my health problems nor about my historical miss and runs. This post is about an observation that opened my eyes lately to the amazing influence of the X-files on every single movie and series released in the 21st century.

Even though the X-files has an alien/UFO backdrop story for the whole series, the individual episodes plot is based, most of the time, on an intriguing murder that resolves in a non-standard ending. Now that is expected until you realize that everything you have seen over the last 8 years has already been tackled in an X-files episode. Even the most successful movies and intriguing plots are derived or even inherited from an X-files episode. I would even dare to categorize all fictional media of the 21st century so far as the `X-files Generation`.

I am not sure how many of you have access to those episodes but I would highly suggest that you give them another chance and check them out while on a treadmill. Eventually as you get older, your blood work will force you to exercise (sooner or later) and now you have no excuse not to have something to distract you while on a treadmill.

Indeed 'The Truth is out there!'.

Hippodrome Beirut!

Hippodrome Beirut! or "Sabak el Khayl"...

Just to make things clear, in this article I'm not pushing anyone to become a gambler! it's just that since I was little (long time ago!) I hear about horse racing in Beirut, so this Sunday, forget the beach, forget carrot juice, I head down to the Hippodrome with my camera around 14h30.
My main intention was to take pictures, but I discovered that I need to have a permission for that, so no problem since I visited the manager's office, who agreed that I take photos as long as they don't show people's faces (3aib!).

To enter you pay 5000L.L unless your not Lebanese, then it's free! or you can sit in the "primo" area which costs you 15000L.L since you are entitled to plastic chairs and balcony view, or enjoy the "restaurant" while watching the race. All cellulars should remain out!

The Hippodrome is a huge place! you can hear the cheering from the moment you enter, everyone screams the name of the horse that he bets on! (no comment concerning the crowd!)

Like: Ya Hayati, Ibn El Malak, Samourai, Remeh, Al Amira Stephanie, A'ntar, Mistanfer, Sabbah, Jawhar, Robin Hood, Seif El Malak, Mouchwar etc...












The screaming is so intense, that your ears hurt! Screaming for the horse, cursing the Jockey, shouting for their money ...
Usually you have 6 races, plus two from France, oh yes, we are a "francophone" country, so you can even bet on the French races who are shown on TVs there. You have the race "journal" in which all the information needed are printed: Horse owner, horse name, weight, Jockey's name and weight, and the expecting winners (who came all wrong!)

At the end of each race, people go to the back, where the horses for the next race will be walked around, so one can choose the horse that he'll put his money on! You walk back to the "guichet" and the betting goes from 3000L.L to ... let's say a lot!

I can proudly say that I lost my betting of 5000L.L! But the ambiance and the experience were worth it, I can also say that it can be addictive, but it will take me many more years to visit the Hippodrome again.

One thing for sure "the race will go on", and as you all know: "Iza ma eja Sultan, btejeh Jarbou'a"!
People will still bet, money will still be lost, few will be won, but I sincerely hope that this sport will be "elevated" in terms of people, facilities or participation.

5 signs That You're an Adult in Lebanon

In many countries around the world, being an Adult is when you turn up to be 18 years old, or 21 years old, or when you leave your parents house and go to college... but for the Lebanese society I chose 5 signs that defines your an "official single" Adult in Lebanon:

1- You Have to Wake Yourself Up On Time
It's not your mother nor the neighbors invited to the kitchen next to your room for a morning coffee/gossips, it's just You who have to set up the alarm and wake up, make your own breakfast or even choosing your own clothes! ;)



2- Fridge
It's when you open your fridge and there are less than 5 items (not counting the expired ones!) And no matter how many beers you have in your fridge it's still 1 item ...

3- Clothes
It's when the magic disappears! No more throwing dirty clothes in the bathroom to find it the next day clean/ironed in your closets! Laundry is a hell of a job :)
It's when you stop wearing "flanella" and stop worrying about "a hit from the wind"! It's when you start searching for clothes over your treadmill rather than inside your closet ;)

4- Marriage
Men: Maximum age 36!
Women: Maximum age 29!

Don't get me wrong I'm totally against those deadlines!!! But unfortunately most of our society thinks that if you are a "true" Adult then you should be married! and for them that is the only difference than you being a Teenager.
Well I think no matter what age you are, if you are single and away from your mother nagging about marriage, your an Adult ;)

5- Entertainment
It's when you can invite who you want to do whatever you want without worrying about noise, smell or the 10000 questions of the next morning.





In Lebanon they say no matter how old you are, you will always stay a kid in your mother's eye, well, I totally respect that but my problem is when we are still "kids" in the society's, government's or ourselves eyes.

Water

Being an environmentalist is always a difficult task in a third world country like ours (I live in Beirut, Lebanon by the way). Being treated as stingy because you own a 2.0L engine car instead of a 4.4L engine SUV is something you learn to live with without wasting time trying to explain to ‘them’ the reason behind it, the benefits to the environment or the efficiency concepts.

I am not environmentalist by any means, I am just an environment friendly person, and I guess I have always been. The difference you say? well an environmentalist is a crusader toward a cause, be it water, air pollution, recycling, etc… These people are committed to an organization and they do awareness programs and activities (something like Greenpeace). Definitely NOT me!
On the other hand, an ‘environment friendly’ is someone who respects the environment and abides to some basic rules that help make our planet a cleaner place.

This brings us to the topic of this blog post: WATER.

Over the last couple of months I got the chance to view few documentaries that kind of left a certain impression on me. Of course we have all seen the Global Warming documentaries that were hyped few years back, specifically The 11th Hour (narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio) and The Inconvenient Truth (narrated by Al Gore). Well the hype of the recent documentaries has been regarding water. For this I highly recommend that you get your hands on the below 3 gems of Documentary filmmaking.

1. Blue Gold: World Water Wars an amazing release that won several awards. It focuses on the issues of water companies like Suez, Nestle and Vivendi to name just a few. It also tackles the issue of wars that are to arise in the future because of water (this is particularly important for us living here in the Middle East).
2. FLOW (For Love Of Water). A crucially important documentary about technologies and methodologies that are being used to recycle and benefit from water.
3. HOME. This is a major release of aerial photography of the planet with a background narration acting as an awareness message. This film is shot by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and produced by Luc Besson. You’ll be hearing a lot about that movie.

Now I don’t know the detailed reasons behind having countries in the middle east established the way they are today. I was never good in history. But all I can say is that back then, the person who did the border demarcation by defining the 10452 km2 Lebanon that we know today surely caused us plenty of trouble. Not only he gave us neighbours such as Israel and Syria (that alone is enough for having trouble), but he made sure that Lebanon is rich in water surrounded by dead thirsty countries. Hence I suggest to any Lebanese to get hold of the above documentaries.

I truly realize that an organization focusing on water does not exist here. Water is always part of a much broader topic such us pollution or recycling, or environment. I believe it is time for making a water brigade that can act as a Think Tank focusing on water resources and research. For once I feel I can help and be committed to such an organization if it ever sees the light. If someone starts acting now I am sure that we can perform great achievements in the future to benefit not only the population but even to influence the politics that will be made in the region. Now the irony is that I will be long gone by the time the water situation would become that dramatic, but at least the generations to come (our children) could at least have a better chance at survival.

Compromised Win

The parliamentary elections are over and the Lebanese finally showed some decency at the polls by electing the right representatives. (I was truly starting to doubt the sanity of the masses prior to the elections!!!)

The opposition was so certain they were going to win that they even convinced some "March 14" analysts about it. I could never figure out how Hezbollah and its allies supposedly increased their support while starting a war with Israel, attacking Beirut, and lining up with the Syrians and Iranians. It was just too crazy for a sane person to back up and eventually we didn't.

Bottom line is, no matter how good in marketing you can be, if your product sucks then you'll eventually fail.

Proxy Server

I'm sure that many of us have many websites blocked for "Productivity" reasons! Especially Facebook, Youtube, e-messenger etc...
So I came accross a very cool website thought I'll share with you all: www.surf100.com

It's a FREE web based anonymous proxy service which allows you to visit websites through an anonymous proxy so that you can visit sites that are blocked by your company or your ISP. Just type the URL you want to surf in the homepage.It will unblock the access to any website.

Enjoy it! Freedom of "Surfing" ;)