Random posts

• Ziad dit ca: Creator of West Beirut and Lila Dit Ca, Ziad Doueiri is one of the founders of modern Lebanese film. Just don't use that term around him.
• Meen meen?: Meen are the definitive Lebanese anti-band, and while their lyrics are obscure and sometimes outright silly, you can't help but be moved by their music.
• Grass and kufta: Somewhere in my late twenties I joined the Time Out family, and within a year I had built a mental database of cheeses, meats, oils, herbs and plenty of things that I’d never before let into my stomach.
• Hi, keefak, ça va?: Writer, publisher, lecture organizer and cultural expert Henri Zoghaib shares his incredible love for Lebanon and enthusiasm for literature.
• Fat in Beirut: So, three fat women walk into a government office in Beirut; did that sound like the front end of a bad joke? Let me try again.
• Dirty Diana: Our eyes locked and he let out a menacing squeak. I lunged at him, and he was gone before I landed. The hunt was on.
• So long, and thanks for all the Jack: I have it; the answer to our failing economy, our miserable jobs and our national gloom. It’s simple, and has been staring us in the face for a couple of generations.
• Deserts ahoy: We’re not built for sudden changes. When my ancestors travelled they spent weeks preparing ropes and mounts; I packed clean shorts into a small bag and walked through metal detector after detector.
• Evidence: Memory is a fragile faculty, subject to time, lies, alcohol abuse and a hundred different chemical errors that could erase the unforgettable as easily as yesterday’s lunch.
• Sketch-a-war: Cartoons are rarely serious, and that's exactly what Mazen Kerbaj counts on. While officials ignore his work, Kerbaj is busy fighting through the funny papers.
• The gypsy emperor: Michel Elefteriades – guerilla fighter, artist, musician –doesn't even consider himself Lebanese, rather the Emperor of Nowhereistan, a state with no land and where everyone is welcome. Provided they pass the test. Where do we sign up?