Random posts

• Star light, star bright: With her book breaking all local sale records, I revisit Maguy Farah to see what all this astrology business is about.
• This town ain't what it used to be: Painter and teacher Ghada Saghiyeh has a bone to pick with Beirut. Karl Baz looks behind the muted, angry art and into woman.
• Splash some color: Cartoons are rarely serious and that's exactly what Mazen Kerbaj counts on. While the officials ignore his work, Kerbaj is busy making a splash.
• The sum of all teddy bears: Wee Willie Winkie was an evil (evil!) character that entered my life via a series of Scottish bedtime nursery rhymes my mother read to me throughout m...
• Bless the rains down in Lebanon: The 30-year-old Lebanese-Canadian singer, producer and songwriter Karl Wolf has had a couple of successful visits to Beirut, and promises more.
• Stairing contest: Have you ever soaked up the bohemian vibe around Gemmayzeh Stairs? Thank Joseph Raidy, the man behind its renaissance.
• Call me Jack: Remember that part in The Shining, when Jack Nicholson breaks an axe through the bathroom door to better communicate with his screaming, cowering ...
• Kabab for the sir?: Architect Maroun el Daccache attempts to define the Lebanese style, not in the least through the incredible office building I was welcomed in. For me ...
• Old hogs: Summertime, and the living is, well, strange. Beirut goes through a cotton shortage in the summer, and our poor, underprivileged women have to ...
• Desert toes: In Cairo, there’s an overcrowded area called Khan el Khalil. There I was, wet, smelly and limping on what may have been a broken toe; just like me to ...
• Of boards and broads: It is my belief that anything of any given value, can be improved upon by adding a woman. A snowboard is a beautiful thing, but a woman on a board is ...
• Sugar, spice and hair removal: Lebanese producer and silver screen heroine Nadine Labaki is pleasantly surprised by her success, and grateful for the learning experience.
• Covet the violin: Vanessa Nassar threatens to take the violin, and us with it, to new heights. After watching her carry it, I'm a believer.
• Lock 'em up: Somewhere in the 19th century, a New Zealander drove the final nail into the patriarchal hierarchy coffin and gave women the right to vote. This was w...
• Chalk please!: ‘I’m sorry sir, we don’t have any wipes; there’s Kleenex on the table right in front of you though.’ I know he was being helpful, but I’m neith...