The John Lennon Wall (Prague)

After crossing Charles Bridge from Old Town to Lesser Town, if you take your 1st Left & then Left again, you come across one of Prague's iconic gems: The John Lennon Peace Wall (located at Velkopřevorské náměstí, Malá Strana):

This famous wall first started collecting John Lennon & The Beatles’ inspired graffiti in the 1980s, as a symbol of Peace & Love, which it still stands for today. Everyday, new drawings and lyrics are added to the wall by its many visitors, constantly changing visuals.  

& To add to the ambiance, we came across a street musician singing and playing his guitar to The Beatles' “Let It Be”. I took this video of him and shared it on Instagram, where I later received a comment from one of his fans that he was actually a rising Czech musical artist, by the name of Thom Artway. I looked him up online and he appears to have some good music. You can check out his official page here.

Tickets to Lana Del Rey @ Byblos International Festival 2013

"Video Games". It was her debut single, her claim to fame. It was the first song I heard and fell in love with for her. Swinging in the backyard, pull up in your fast car, whistling my name...

Throughout the year, I got introduced to more of her music and I especially loved "Born To Die", "Blue Jeans", "Summertime Sadness", and most lately, "Young and Beautiful". Lana Del Rey has definitely made it to the list of my top artists of all time. And, I still can't believe my eyes, she's coming to Lebanon's Byblos International Festival on July 10th, 2013! 

I remember my first Byblos International Festival in 2010, I went with Toastmasters to see the famous local Lebanese Band Mashrou3 Leila. Two years later in 2012, I went with my brother and cousins to see Snow Patrol (a band that I am absolutely in love with, and what a was a perfect night it was!). And now, just when I thought I'd seen the best, Byblos International Festival outdoes themselves again and brings Lana Del Rey (along with a brilliant lineup you can see here!) 

I know I'm a few weeks late in writing this post, but thank my lucky stars I'm not late in getting tickets (for me and two of my very best friends)! The very moment I found out she was coming, I booked! The only difference between this year and last year is that this year I decided to go seated because standing kills! And I'm too old to be standing these days! :-P Ahhh, and as of this moment, exactly one month remains till Lana lands in Lebanon! Can't Wait!

Till then, I leave you with one of her lesser known, but more upbeat songs (which happens to be my song of the week), PARIS:

In The MEA Aeroplane Over The Sea

Well, I'm back! Like I said, it was one of the quickest vacations ever, but it was a much needed vacation for me to de-stress from both work and school. And I have to say, mission accomplished! And you know Neutra Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea"? Well, I couldn't stop playing it my head as I was flying back home. I even Instagrammed this picture from the MEA plane:

I feel quite pumped and ready to get back to business! In fact, I even went straight to Marketing Class this afternoon! 

Amman to Beirut: 135 Miles, Beirut to Tripoli: 53 Miles, Tripoli to Balamand: 8.5 Miles, Balamand to Tripoli: 8.5 Miles… 205 Miles in 12 hours and now HOME SWEET HOME! (L)

Snow Patrol @ Byblos International Festival 2012

Ever since I read the lineup to the Byblos International Festival, and read that Snow Patrol were going to be performing, my jaw literally dropped! See, there are a lot of artists and bands that are good, and that I like, but ever since I first heard of Snow Patrol back in 2006, with their hit song “Chasing Cars” and their fourth album “Eyes Open”, I fell in deep love with them…

Of course I became addicted to them after that, with their fifth album “A Hundred Million Suns” and sixth album “Fallen Empires”. But I guess the year in which I’ve loved them the most was in 2008, when I got stuck on the not-so-popular song “Finish Line”, especially the lyrics in which they sing: “I think the finish line’s a good place we could start…”

So on June 6^th, amid the chaos in Tripoli, I went out to buy the tickets for me, my brother, and two cousins. I got standing because I wanted to be closer to the band. And though I've made a mental note not to ever go standing again, it was absolutely worth it! They played all their famous hits and I sang along to every single song. I also felt really smug knowing all the lyrics, especially when some of the audience didn’t know how to sing along :-)

And oh, how I loved the lead singer, Gary Lightbody. He was just so full of energy, smiling and sincere. “God Bless Your Hearts,” he said to us, he really made me melt…

I took videos of the night as well, here's one of my favorite songs for them: New York:

"If you were here beside me, instead of in Byblos..." he sang ;-)

As you can tell, I’m still not over how absolutely incredible it was! Thank You Snow Patrol, Thank You Byblos… I love this city tonight, I love this city always, it bears its teeth like a light and spits me out after days… X

#SaveTripoli

Here’s a snapshot of life in Tripoli as of yesterday evening: closed roads, burning tires, gunshots and explosions…

Tripoli, spin me some sad story, sell me some excuse to help me understand the things you do... cause the way you treat your lovers, well I just can't relate... well where'd you learn to shoot your gun so straight?! :-(  

I Will Always Love You...

In Memory of Whitney Houston ... (Aug 9, 1963 - Feb 11, 2012)

I'll Be There

So I was enjoying some of the gifts my brother got me for the holidays, one of which was Michael Jackson’s “Immortal” album. Wait, let me give you a little background info on that…

Over the summer when we were Canada, we booked seats for Cirque du Soleil’s “Totem”. It was a spectacular performance indeed and in October, well after we had traveled back home, they had a tributary show for “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour”. And my brother decided to go. He said it was brilliant, and here’s a YouTube segment:

Now back to the commemoration album. I reached the eighteenth track “I’ll Be There”, which I hadn't listened to in a long time, and I remembered how it’s one of the best tracks off any MJ CD, even if its from his childhood days as The Jackson 5. The lyrics, the meaning, the emotion. The words need to be posted, and then listen to the song:

You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back. Where there is love, I’ll be there (I’ll be there…) I’ll reach out my hand to you, I’ll have faith in all you do, just call my name and I’ll be there (I’ll be there…) And oh – I’ll be there to comfort you, build my world of dreams around you, I’m so glad that I found you. I’ll be there with a love that’s strong, I’ll be your strength, I’ll keep holding on – (Yes I will, Yes I will). Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter. Togetherness, well that’s all I’m after. Whenever you need me, I’ll be there (I’ll be there…) I’ll be there to protect you, with an unselfish love I respect you. Just call my name and I’ll be there (I’ll be there…)

Jack's Mannequin

There’s a lot of good music out there, but it’s not always easy to find. And when you do, it’s more often than not, that it’s only one or two good songs off the same artist or band. But to have a good artist or band with several good songs, that is rare. Yet a couple of years ago, I discovered one of those exceptional two-in-one music makers: Jack’s Mannequin, lead by an artist on all levels, Andrew McMahon.

I first heard of the band Jack’s Mannequin through my favorite television series, OTH (which, FYI, is an amazing music source for starter bands, check: OTH-MUSIC. In fact, each episode is titled after a different song in time). Their first single, “The Mixed Tape” was featured on the show, with the actual band performing it live and my ears pricked up at their music and lyrics…

I looked them up online and at the time (in late 2008), I found out they had only two albums: “Everything In Transit” (2005) and “The Glass Passenger” (2008). I downloaded both their albums and kept playing and replaying their songs over a thousand times (proof on last.fm ;-)

It wasn’t until a couple of days ago (during my sick leave) when I noticed a friend was listening to a song called “My Racing Thoughts” for… Jack’s Mannequin! And I thought whoa, a song I don’t know! I looked it up and was pleasantly surprised to see that just last month; they had released a third new album, “People and Things”! :-)

I of course downloaded their eleven brilliant new tracks, with my favorite being “Casting Lines”. Just read these opening lyrics:

“You learn to run, you learn to race, through life, it’s unforgiving pace… these lines we’re tracing to the truth… and stepping over endless cracks, I navigate these crooked paths… BUT ALL MY ROADS LEAD BACK TO YOU…” :-)

The Best Mix Tapes

This morning, I got up at 7:00AM. I think ever since I started working, my biological clock’s been ticking especially loud at 7:00AM for me to get on up out of bed and head off to work. So even when I don’t have work on rare mornings (like today!), I still have to hear that alarm in my head!

Mum (the early bird) was already up before me but Dad and my brother were still asleep. And since it was too early to greet the online world just yet, I decided to tidy up my room and as usual, find some old stuff that I’d forgotten about. This time, I found Tapes. Cassette Tapes to be exact. Now for those who grew up in my generation (90’s kids), do you remember this music? This used to be my most treasured musical collection…

I smiled, sighed, and put them all in my “giveaway” plastic bag. I already had all that music either on CDs or in MP3 format, and I’m over 99% sure that I won’t be listening to cassette tapes in the future…

But, just for the sake of remembering, remember when we used to record mix tapes? These are two tapes that two friends recorded for me back in the day. As you can tell, each has a different style of music, with the first leaning towards slower oldies and the second is a combination of the punk band Blink 182’s “Enema of the State” and “Take off Your Pants and Jacket”.

I also came across a couple of old recordings I’d made, from the radio, and an interview. I decided to get rid of that stuff, and took the ribbons out. As I pulled out the seemingly endless ribbons, I remembered Bruno Mars’ video clip for “Just the Way You Are” in which he makes images out of those ribbons. I tried two write “Bye” out of them but to no avail, and all I was left with was this mess on the floor…

I spent a good half hour getting rid of those tapes, but as I put the last of them away, I couldn't help but smile again at the musical means of the time, and how no matter how many years pass by, some music will always remain in our hearts. So this one’s for the music, and the songs we’re singing… (8)

Today, I Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything...

As Bruno Mars sings in The Lazy Song, “Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed. Don’t feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone, cause today I swear I’m not doing anything…” it’s been a lazy Sunday indeed, but a much needed lazy Sunday. And I’m sorry for not having kept this blog updated for the past couple of weeks but I've been exhausted…

See (two months ago) at work, I voluntarily signed up for a two and a half month seminar at the Head Office in Beirut, which has been brilliant so far. But, because it’s in the Capital and I’m in Tripoli, the transit time is against me, and its wearing me out. It’s been since April in which the routine of my life has been going like this:

07:00AM – 07:45AM: wake up, quick breakfast, get dressed, off to work

08:00AM – 11:30AM: work, work, work

11:30AM – 01:30PM: dis-Connex-ion bus (this is the biggest @$$ pain!)

01:30PM – 02:00PM: cab to HO + quick lunch

02:00PM – 04:45PM: seminar

04:45PM – 05:00PM: back to dis-Connex-ion station (rush hour!)

05:00PM – 07:00PM: dis-Connex-ion bus, home.

I’m frustrated! I’m not complaining about any of it except the four hours of dead time in the dis-Connex-ion bus! I’ve done everything to keep myself entertained; I’ve listened to the radio and memorized all the songs Mix FM, NRJ, and Radio One play, I’ve listened to all 827 tracks on my iPod at least a dozen times, I've memorized all the outdoor advertising billboards on the road from Tripoli to Beirut and back, I've read magazines, I’ve read Paulo Coelho’s latest book “The Winner Stands Alone” (great read!), and I've even caught up on my sleep… but come on, four spare hours a day is just too long a time to kill! (Yes, that was all a vent ;-)

So, “today I swear I’m not doing anything… no, I ain't gonna comb my hair, cause I ain’t going anywhere… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Really, it’s lazy Sundays like these that give me the recharge I need to restart the work week again on Mondays. So to all my friends and distant family members whom I've shamefully been out of touch with, apologies…

On the bright side, it’s almost over. I still have three more days next week, five more days the week after that, and then the big exam on the 15th of June (which I’d better do well in!). Thankfully, the biggest motivation that’s keeping me pumped during all this is the two week vacation in Canada that I’m going to be taking at the end of June! I’ll be back in the blogging scene again soon, so stay tuned! ;-)

Shoot As You Walk "Ramadaniyat 2" Pictures:

After all the “Shoot As You Walk” journeys I’ve been on, both day and night included, I have to admit that last night’s “Shoot As You Walk 30/08/2010” Event (Night Edition II) was the best yet!

The souks, the streets, the city, it was all hustling and bustling with people! I’ve never seen so much energy at night; it really makes me wish every night in Tripoli were like this. I’m also especially happy because I think I finally got a hang of taking night pictures without using a tripod. It’s all got to do with the TV (Time Value) dial. (But correct me if I’m wrong, if there’s another way to take good pictures at night without the flash and without blur)…

Here are my best shots of the night (click to enlarge):

“I love this city tonight, I love this city always. Its bears its teeth like a light and spits me out after days” – Take Back The City | Snow Patrol

Check out the rest of my photos on Flickr

I Want The World To Know How Beautiful You Are…

When my brother came back from Canada about two weeks ago, I asked him to get me a book about learning digital photography. I did a little online research for books on the subject and I found the most basic one, suited especially for my camera: Digital Rebel xSi/450D for Dummies! Since then, I’ve been feeling a bit more confident in using the creative modes. I can now explain the difference between P, TV, AV, M, and A-DEP...

At the same time, El Mina (the city of waves and horizon) has recently become one of my favorite cities (side note: El Mina is not in Tripoli. Tripoli is a city, and El Mina is another city. And though they’re less than ten minutes apart, I like it like that, I like knowing that El Mina is a getaway for me). So, that's where I set out to catch the sun…

I’ve always thought that sunsets are special. It’s in the warm colors of the sun when it sets, reflected in the sea and in the sky, first yellow and orange, then purple and pink. Its in the silhouettes, the boats, and the people. It’s in the moment, and of course, it’s in the ones you get to share that moment with…

"It’s times like these we’ll never forget, stayin out to watch the sunset... I’m glad I shared this with you..."

In This Diary

"the only thing that matters is just following your heart, and eventually you'll finally get it right!"

- The Ataris ;-)