Musical Instruments

I have always enjoyed music and was always fascinated by the diversity of the music genres across different cultures, countries and languages. My music collection contains tracks ranging from Japanese pop to Persian Taqasim, including the regular English, French and Arabic mainstream music.

Two issues however kept me a handicap when it comes to music. First, I can never memorize any lyrics and second, I am convinced that I am musically challenged when it comes to playing a musical instrument of any kind.

I tried to tackle the lyrics issue so many times without any success. I do have a good memory and a wonderful ability to memorize almost anything, but this music lyrics kept me perplexed as to why I can not remember any of the lyrics. May be it is a disease of some kind, I do not know. Anyway, I gave up eventually and accepted the fact that my singing career would never pick up.

As for the second issue, well that is of a different scale. Playing a musical instrument is definitely something I am not gifted to do and undoubtedly a gift that I would not be developing anytime soon. But thanks to my Playstation 3 gaming console I can get closer as ever to playing musical instruments. I was introduced lately by a friend of mine to a new PS3 game called Guitar Hero.

In brief it is a game that displays colored markers on the screen and you would have to follow with corresponding keystrokes on a guitar or a drum set. So no music notes and no musical literature is involved. Which is perfect for someone like me.

Now I will not elaborate more on the game as it would get extremely boring for you. But I highly recommend that you check it out and most importantly TRY it out and you’ll see that you would be running to the closest shop to buy it.

For now I only have the guitar component (which also allows you to play Bass as well) and am planning to get the Drum set in a couple of months. The only missing component would be the microphone as this game also offers the lyrics in a karaoke style presentation (which I will leave for my wife to enjoy).

(Check out some videos on youtube as well)

How cool is that?

World's First Liquid-Cooled LED Lightbulb

I don't know why but I was always fascinated by LEDs. Whether it is in the headlight of a new car, home lighting, or even home made projects. So efficient and green, it amazes me that it did not overtake the lighting industry a long time ago.

Eternaleds announced their new Hydrolux-4 LED light bulb, the very first liquid-cooled bulb in the world. The bulbs are incredibly energy-efficient compared to either incandescent or CFL bulbs, and come with a price tag to match.

The bulbs, which cost $35 each (!), are rated for 35,000 hours of use and only consumes 4W of electricity (compared to a 25W incandescent), which means if you're afraid of the dark and run it 8 hours a day, it will last you for 12 years. It's fully dimmable and, unlike other LED lights, cool to the touch, thanks to the oh-so-hardcore liquid cooling. The bulbs come in "warm white" and "daylight" flavors, and are available now.

Do Not Come!

This post is an ANGRY post dedicated to all the Lebanese visiting back home and nagging about it. To those I say: DO NOT COME!

Let me start by saying that everyone is welcomed here, Lebanese or foreigner. Nevertheless, any visiting Lebanese should be positive and constructive about his visit back home. If you are not a positive person then this post is for you.

Yesterday a friend of mine on Facebook posted a status urging the Lebanese visiting Lebanon this summer to stop nagging about the country. This snowballed a series of comments and reactions arguing with and against it. So below is my take on these Lebanese planning to visit Lebanon this summer.

First of all, Lebanon is a 3rd world country, so live with it. Should you decide to dismiss this fact then DO NOT COME!

Nagging about the pollution, traffic jams, queuing, power cuts, or any other problem you face in this country does not make you ‘special’ UNLESS you plan to do something to make things better. If you plan to bitch about it, then please DO NOT COME!

We (living here) do not need you. You only make the traffic worse, consume more power from the grid , establish longer queues, and congest our pubs and malls. I am sure that you like to convince yourself that wherever you come from is better than here, let it be Dubai, Montreal, Sydney or California. Stay there please, DO NOT COME!

Let the foreign tourists come instead, they at least spend enough money here to help the economy. We’re expecting 2 million tourist this summer. As for you, keep on sending your ‘Flous’ to your families without the need to visit. And please realize that nagging negatively about Lebanon just to convince yourself psychologically that living abroad is better, is the oldest trick in the book. It is a good trick that is fake but will surely make your pathetic soul feel better. So feel free to nag while abroad and DO NOT COME!

The political situation is a mess, war with Israel is imminent, everything is very expensive. If you can not afford these facts, embrace them and make the best out of them then DO NOT COME!

Finally, should you feel an unbearable urge to vent about the problems when you visit and need to have a positive look at the country, then you know where to find me. I would be happy to help. Should this be your case, we can do this over a phone call, no need for you to visit, so please call and DO NOT COME!

Close Encounters

Few years back when I returned back to my home country (Lebanon) after a long residence abroad I thought of going scuba diving in the local waters. That was in the summer of 2001 and it was the most beautiful close encounter of my life. Below is that story.

I had a small ‘XPrience’ while scuba diving. Its a bit funny you might think but it was ‘X3Mly’ scary (for me at least).

Friday, was a day off for me and I was deeply in the mood for a scuba dive. So I checked around to look for the schedule of diving centers in and around Beirut and there was one particular dive schedule that attracted me the most, it said "X3M team diving at 3pm at Shark Point".

So I said to myself that 'X3M' is shitty since we don't have extreme stuff here in Lebanon, furthermore "Shark Point"? what the hell is that, we do not have sharks in the Mediterranean (or so I thought).

So at 1430 I was at the dive center, at 1500 I was all geared up and ready to go. By 1530 the boat reached the dive location and we were getting ready to go IN deep. I was having some second thoughts but the crystal clear water on that day and all this amazing Big Blue around was very tempting. Furthermore, there wasn't a single wave nor wind and the visibility underwater was amazing. You could say that ideal diving conditions were present on that day.

We were 10 divers and had to split into 2 groups of 5, group A and Group B (I was in group A. Theoretically!!). Group A was expected to go North while group B goes South.

We went down into the water and the current was strong that we had to keep our fins stroking all the time. By the time we reached -30m I realized that I was with the wrong group (North, South, who knows!), we were six divers and since I am the only clumsy (non-X3M member) in the team then it became obvious that I was the one in the wrong group. Anyway, my NEW team included the dive master, 2 Swedish guys and 2 Lebanese-Americans and all in X3M physical condition.

They started there swim to the assumed Shark location from -30m and I had to catch up. By the time they reached -50m I was still way behind them bitching about the X3M exhaustion that I was feeling all alone away from them (I am not known for my X3M athletic physique). Anyway, they all froze in the distance in front of me and I was able to catch up, but by the time I reached the guys I realized that none of them was moving, they were dead still. The reason was a 4.5 meter long SHARK which was no more than 2 meters away lying below us on the sea floor at -52m. FUCK! I was directly on top of it!!!!

I am not a marine biologist so I don't know to what species that thing belonged to, but I can tell you that I would not want something 6 times my size swimming next to me ever again. With all the fear building up in me I believe I turned white (fuck, I became all colors combined). I realized that I wasn't breathing anymore and I had to convince myself to start breathing again. It was the scariest moment I ever faced in my life, it was a near death XPrience guys, no kidding here. I was 2 meters away from a hell of a JAW.

The shark which was moving X3Mly slowly briefly opened his X3Mly big mouth and showed us his X3Mly sharp teeth and then made an X3M 180 degree turn toward us. At that time, I became very careful and I immediately put my hand on my diving knife. I was ready to cut my Swedish buddy and run away.

But the shark didn't really care about us, it was just swimming around with an X3Mly firm statement that we understood from the very beginning: "One bite, One man". So at that time we decided to start our ascent. Lucky for us (by ‘us’ I am excluding myself), at -25m of our ascent we met another X3Mly cute shark which measured around 3 meters only. Again, my hand on the knife I was ready to cut any diver next to me.

All went well eventually and we were back on the surface. I was the first one out of the water and on the boat and obviously I realized that never was I able to get on a boat that fast before. X3M team my ass, they will never see me again. Not because I was scared but because I was capable of cutting someone if we ever meet a shark again.

Joking aside, it was a great experience indeed. The shark is a magnificent creature. Furthermore, I would have never discovered my dark ‘murderish’ nature otherwise, no?

From Doha with Love

During my last trip to Doha-Qatar, I came across a very interesting yet "shamful" article and a very "bold" poster.

Knowing that in case I meet a lady who has read or better memorized the article on the left (How to be the Perfect Wife), I may change my mind and cross to the other side known as "married" or for some unfortunate "Akalo el Dareb"!

On the other hand, the poster on the right shows a better and a more open view on the subject. But of course it will never be published in a magazine like the other article!

They say one can chose his friends but not his parents, unfortunately for most Arabs they cannot even choose their Husbands or Wives! For the West it's surely a comic statement but can they hear us laughing over here?!

So shameful that in Lebanon with 17 sects we still don't have a civil marriage. Now you can hear people getting married while their first meeting was on "facebook" or "meetic" or believe it or not on "X-Box Live" ;)
That remind us the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" where the distance between Seattle and New York is far greater than Achrafiyeh to Saida where two persons cannot even have the idea of getting married. Thanks God we have Cyprus nearby :)

As a conclusion, in order to be happy, one should Wear, Eat, Marry, Sing, Dance ... the way it feels best for him or her ;) Live and Let Live ... and in between don't forget to Love!