Heineken - between Amsterdam and Beirut

Apparently, despite selling back its majority shares in 2022 of the Brasserie Almaza to the Jabre family, Heineken never left the Lebanese market and the said brewery still retains the sales and distribution rights for all Heineken products on the Lebanese territory. So it is a pleasure to see a Heineken ad at the gates of summer - and especially with the World Cup kicking off soon - somewhere in Lebanon. As far as I saw the ads were not plastered all over, perhaps Brasserie Almaza wishes for its star product to remain center stage, also this could be down to the price factor - with Heineken being 0.5 to 0.6 USD more expensive than its Lebanese counterpart. Still, "born in Amsterdam, enjoyed in Beirut" clearly wishes to differentiate the two products giving one an international cachet. I think this might be to distinguish between the two target audiences.

Slowear, always the cut above (25 seasons together)

Slowear never ceases to amaze me (here and here). And here they are at it - again. Elegantly, discretely, without shouting, without too in-your-face attitude, with plenty of calm and understatement. Slowear is celebrating 25 seasons together.

 "Slowear Beirut has always been more than a store. It is a home for a community of gentlemen and dear friends who share our love for timeless elegance. Through the ups and downs of country, your trust and kindness has allowed us to remain true to our promise: offering not only luxury, but belonging.

 We stand today because of you, and because of that, we are forever grateful. Join us in-store to celebrate our 25th season together.

 With Sincerity,

 Slowear Beirut"

I am still waiting for a more respectful, kind and lovely text to come from any of the upscale stores in Beirut. It won't. Because all this reflects the ethos of the founders. 

Also, still kicking myself for not getting the Pierre Louis Mascia scarf that was on sale there.

Of Beirut and Dubai: We're having a heat wave (yes, this is a song)

To those of you who have not melted, welcome. Supposedly the worst of the heatwave has passed. Well, between the temperatures soaring, the lack of any electricity from the government, and the diesel engines exploding left and right due to overcharging their capacity, welcome to the joys of living in Lebanon. And yes, we are supposed to compete with other such cities because, never mind the because, but seriously when my internet provider gave a free internet to the bazar organized for the feast of the Assumption, it sent all our accounts into a tailspin, and I had to work very very difficulty for two days when a client in Dubai was eagerly waiting for answers. Because, you know, Dubai has internet no matter the feast.

During the war, then drinkable water was too far and in between, an AUB professor suggested that people can fill glass galons and leave them in the sun for a day so that the sunlight would do the purification. Suspiciously, I saw our neighbour putting glass galons outside having told him the story now that drinkable water is even more spottier than my internet account.

But yeah, Dubai has to be shaking in its boots. Long long ago, Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said on Beirut: a dream that echoed in my mind that one day Dubai would be like Beirut.

But that was long ago.

Meanwhile my neighbour has put a new batch of glass galons.

Beirut Beer - strategy overflow.

Remember that corny Almaza ad (here) for the summer? Beirut Beer, for once did not seem to be answering them, but rather branching smartly on their own: A trilingual welcoming ad for all visitors and expats coming to Lebanon, dignified, smart, and quite friendly. Now, not to rain on their parade, but I personally would have modified all three ads to "we are pleased and honored to welcome you to" (because then Beirut would be both the brand and the city). And yes, it works in all three languages (this is the copywriter in me speaking).

Jours tranquilles a Beyrouth...

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

So here we are, again.

Waiting, in Beirut once more.

The title of this post is borrowed from the book by David Hury and Nathalie Bontems (Nathalie is a lovely character if there ever one, and no I am not going to tell you about the state of the villa in Harissa. Sigh). You can still find their book here. 

I did say it before (here for example) "A long time ago (in 2008) and in an interview with a Swedish newspaper, I said "Beirut is like a snake, it needs to shed its skin periodically" - not caring who or what it hurts in the process." But at some point - and even if the myth of Beirut having been destroyed and rebuilt seven times has been debunked and is not correct - one gets tired of being in an exoskeleton.

And now it is the waiting, once more. And this, I said, prior (here).
… And the bombings over Beirut intensified, and I found myself…
Strange how some statements seem ageless and dateless, as if their only reference is simply their own being. The above could have taken place anytime between 1975 and 1990, then sporadically – yet recurrently – after that, although choosing 1996 and 2006 would give a better statistical opportunity of be dead on. Excuse the pun. It seemed the same as saying “the sun rises”, a benign statement with no implications whatsoever in the grand scheme of things, a mechanic, repetitive act – a little like sex when the initial impulse of the discovery of the other’s body has gone.

I envy those who can still play this mental game, ad infinitum. Personally, when I add everything I am going through over and above this, I feel simply tired. If this post seems like rehashing old sayings, maybe, just maybe, because we are now in the same old places and times.

August 4th - tenzakar ta ma ten3ad

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

I can't remember who came up with it. It was a campaign on television launched for the commemoration of the Lebanese war (April 13th) and it was a riff on the local expression "tenzakar w ma ten3ad" (let it be remembered and not repeated) which became "tenzakar ta ma ten3ad" (let it be remembered SO THAT it would not be repeated). Again, apologies I do not have the original campaign, or the original graphics, or any online source as to who did it or exactly when.

I honestly do not feel like a "survivor" from that day, maybe because I spent the whole long war surviving so much it became living as such. I understand the trauma caused by the explosion, specifically to those who did not live the war as such. You may want to revisit my recollections of that day here.

Am alive damn it. Alive, you hear?

Peek-a-Boom from Wezank, Mira could be all of us.

So Wezank actually were busy throughout 2020 - what started as a "self-therapy" ended up a 5-minute film with one foot in the future and the other in the past. And not just any past. I have previously spoken about the August 4th 2020 explosion and how I was about to die twice (here), and for Wezank it is the story of Mira which made the event. Sure, Mira is fictional. Or is she? Because she could have been anyone of us, or all of us combined into one single character. Or Mira could be the city at large, Beirut in itself, a city which I once said resembled a snake which sheds its skin periodically to be able to go on being alive (here).

Just be aware, the "simplicity" of the film is deceiving, because it holds too many layers and too many interpretations and too many nuances. For anyone who has lived through this event, it might be a little too "triggering" but worth the watch here.

Beirut capital of Arab media 2023

So Beirut is Capital of Arab Media 2023. Ok, let me go back to what Minister Ziad Makary said in a communique (he is the caretaker minister of Information in the current government), Apparently the ministry is keen to "create a common space between Lebanon and its Arab brethrens, reflecting full, constant and continuous solidarity at the various levels."

A per minister Makari's words: "Lebanon is keen to demonstrate its Arabism through the title “Beirut, Capital of Arab Media,” adding “This title constitutes a challenge amid Lebanon’s difficult political and economic conditions; yet we have accepted this challenge. We will ensure the success of all events that will extend for a whole year.”

To go back to that joke in the sitcom when the man asked his heavily pregnant wife is she wanted a foot massage, to which she replied "this is what got us here in the first place". A bon entendeur salut...
Now, about the ad - it is based on the statue of Martyrs' at the Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut (by Italian sculptor Marino Mazzacurati) and instead of a torch the statue is holding a microphone (you know to signify the media). I like the line "houna Beirut" - this is Beirut (speaking) - which is how radios used to identify their place of broadcast. I do think the photoshop could have been better with the mike though. But all in all, it does worry me what the "Capital of Arab Media" is supposed to do...

For reference about the Lebanese media check this link here.

Murr Tower ad dating back to 1975

Ad cleaned and rearranged by Tarek Chemaly

And how about this time capsule of an ad.

The Murr Tower, which still stands empty and incomplete after all this time, was supposed to be - as per its ad which appeared in Annahar newspaper in 1975 - as "the first skyscraper of the Middle East" (interestingly, it was not the first skyscraper-inspired structure - look here), and the ad boasts its 40-storey high length. And that it is the highest building in Lebanon. 

The ad specifies that the first stage of construction of the first 20 floors started and finished within one month, and that the second one started on April 5 1975 and was supposed to finish "at the beginning of May" - the war that erupted on April 15th 1975 had other plans. The building included as per the ad 400 offices, a cinema, a restaurant and cafeteria, telex and telegraph center, a telephone for every office and other amenities which were high-end for its time.

If you wish to see the current inside of the tower, which was taken over by various militias over time (specifically during the war) please look at the fascinating images here. For a while there were plans to turn the tower into a fancy high-rise but these never materialized (here).

The tower still remains as a hollow, empty, and macabre reminder of a Beirut with a questionable past, and sadly, murky present and uncertain future.

Tide - when we have to rely on advertising to light up the streets

The other day I had to go from Sassine square to Monot - a trip normally that takes 20 mins on foot. It took around 105 minutes for me to get there. Why? Because Achrafieh was - post ABC mall - completely plunged in the dark. What's with government electricity coming at barely an hour a day, and generators only covering apartments (with exhorbitant prices so the residents pick and chose which rooms to light), I almost tripped twice, thankfully found a hair salon still open to at least "see" something in a dark street.

All this is to tell you that Tide has actually instigated billboards that light up - and if this is not a sore need in Beirut at this point I have no idea what else is. So the billboards which alternate other ads during the day became exclusive to Tide starting 7 PM - an idea which came about from our friends at Leo Burnett Beirut.

Of course, when advertising brings lights to streets in Beirut it basically tells you of how things are lacking on all respects.

Should Jad Aoun bring his "looks like Beirut" award back?

Today as I was reading an article in The Guardian (here) a sentence popped up describing a dilapidated house "like Beirut"... and bam it all brought back to me that award that Jad Aoun (at the time known as the blogger "under rug swept") used to distribute for articles mentioning the expression "looks like Beirut" - which of course at the time was ironic considering Beirut was thriving thank-you-very-much. So "just like Beirut" was an oddity to mention since it did not resemble anything of the Beirut known at that time.

Jad, much like many of the other bloggers has gone to better pastures - in this case Canada - where he blogged intermittently - and then not blogged at all. Actually in his website, there is a section which is called "new blog" which leads to... nothing. 

Naturally, in today's Beirut, the irony might have all gone. The idea that something is "just like Beirut" which, unlike the 80s comparison (meaning war-torn and a complete chaos) has been replaced by a soulless structure, one that is not dead but barely breathing to be considered a full functioning entity. And please spare me the "you're negative" connotations - look beyond the silly pubs and see the faces of people, those almost unable to pay their generator for the scraps of electricity they are provided with, or those who try to make meals out of nothing at all, or the large fragment of the population which is now under the poverty level, or quite simply the man who seriously asked in a supermarket "can we do tabbouleh without cucumbers?" upon seeing their price.

So yes, Jad. Bring back those awards but make them about people feeling helpless, and apply them to situations where they are barely making it. Surviving, but only just.... just like Beirut.

Feer McQueen says Beirut smells of hope rather than toxic fumes.

So apparently Beirut smells like hope according to Feer McQeen.

No, really. Hope.

Ok let's recap. Yesterday was the second commemoration of the infamous August 4 explosion which destroyed major fragments of Beirut. Each one of us reacted differently - some still traumatized, some barely recovering, others faring much better (after a short bout of PTSD and having lived the whole 1975-1990 war in Lebanon I reacted better than most knowing I cheated death twice that day).

Still, if Beirut smells like anything - apart from the silly "vibes" everyone was posting on Instagram and Tiktok (mainly expats here 2 weeks " trois petits tours et puis s'en vont" as the song says) - it definitely, NOT of hope.

Electricity is barely existent and the generator rates are through the roof. People are reluctant to turn the AC on because it might end up costing - literally - a fortune. Banks are still holding our money hostage and this applies to people in the capital as well. Inflation is in the triple digits (250 times!). I need not go on. But hope does not factor in the equation.

Worse, the silos (which have shielded part of Beirut from total destruction) and which many people have called for their preservation as a monument have been disintegrating - ironically, a part of them fell almost to the minute on the day of the second commemoration (another part had fallen a few days earlier).

So photoshopping a green tree on the top of an old photograph of the silos as they appeared post-explosion and claiming that Beirut smells - not of noxious fumes (which environmental experts have been cautioning about) - but of "hope" is honestly, borderline insulting.

Elections 2022: Meanwhile in Beirut's 2nd district...

OK, so now that Saad Hariri decided not to run for elections, everyone is running for a piece of the cake. Supported by Fouad Siniora and other Sunni notables, the "Beirut Touwajeh" (Beirut confronts or Beirut stands up) is shooting on a very anti-Hizbullah angle. "Your ballot on May 15th brings down May 7th" - for reminder, May 7th (see here) ended with Hizbullah basically taking over the western part of Beirut. Hassan Nasrallha, Hizhullah's leader would later say that May 7th "was a glorious day among resistance day" (Hizbullah always describes itself as resistance). So I suppose it is obvious where these people stand on the political spectrum. And the cherry on the cake is the hastag #your_ballot_is_a_duty .... 

Interestingly what they are advocating has not been unanimous... Proof? One of their panels was shredded...

Source

Elections 2022: Meanwhile in the 1rst district of Beirut

Well, how about some platitudes with your elections? "Because development is a right" "Because there's enough humiliation on the doors of hospitals" "Because old-age insurance is a guarantee to our elderly". All this signed "Loubnan Assiyada" (Lebanon the sovereignty) which is the name of the list sponsoring these frequent (the above are but three of a much larger campaign). Are these worthwhile promises? Surely. Are they executable? Are you nuts? Each one needs a very complicated machinery behind it in terms of laws and financial backing and what not. So basically, as I said - platitudes.

I often say this, but in the elections of 1992 a candidate in South Lebanon offered in his electoral program a cure for AIDS. Yes, this is how far we promise over here.

OLX references Samira Toufic...

 

Well, OLX just went Samira Toufic! Here mega hit "hay sayyartak ya 7bayyeb" (this is your car babe) found its way on an OLX ad with the catchy line "min Beirut la Jounieh, ya 3youni" (from Beirut to Jounieh, my sweetie) - and the ad goes "you can buy and sell clothes from us". Interestingly, the background references the cable cars (which technically are in Harissa not jounieh!) but instead of the small cars there is a computer and a phone screen). Anyhow been a while since I saw some pop culture inserted in an ad, and Samira Toufic no less (not sure if the younger generation though is aware of her mega hit). 

Orienteuropa or the pullman line that joined Munich to Beirut

So how about that for an info! Apparently T. Gargour & Fils - synonymous to Mercedes-Benz and currently rebaptized TGF - actually had a Pullman line linking Munich to Beirut. The trip promises to go through 7  lands (Germany (Munich), Slovenia (Ljubljana, Bled), Austria (Vienna), Yugoslavia (Belgrade, Skopje)*, Greece (Kavalla), Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, Adana), and Lebanon (Beirut)) in eleven days.

*Please note that the ad is undated but that currently Belgrade is in Serbia and Skopje is in Macedonia.

Interestingly some sources say that the line never happened, which apparently is not the case as the line was in effect functioning (interestingly, the German Kaiser Wilhem II actually dreamed of joining Germany with the orient, which makes this line a manifestation of his wishes). 

It is to note that the bus in the advertising is the O321H model, which was issued in 1955. This in itself gives the ad a certain baseline date, in addition other sources state the lines were functioning since 1955. Which makes the ad dated to that year by deduction.

Lebanon: Not a normal autumn in Beirut this year.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly (Autumn in Beirut)

There is a proverb that goes: Autumn in Beirut and spring in Damascus.

Both cities are renowned to be blessed by temperate, lovely weather in those two seasons. Sure, some years Beirut goes directly from hot-summerish to cold and very winter-damp (with humidity that either sticks to the skin or pierces to the bone). But in the years when autumn hits, it's precisely that wonderful passage between the seasons. I have moved from Beirut in 2010, and where I am there is that temperate lovely transition whereas technically we are still not in autumn.

By now, we tend to cover up at night, the August congestion has left the weather. People tend to wear an additional layer at night. Veranda sitting is brought-down to a minimum. And of course, any student would be now in pseudo-panic mode because yes, it is back to school mood. Actually, you feel the kids really - really - milking the end of summer by playing more intensely to make up for the days that will come especially that this year schools in Lebanon are gearing up to welcoming the students in situ.

Sure, this autumn seems more melancholic than normal. What's with all the issues compounded on top of one another and all the rationing in addition to all the economic downfall that has laid its great shadow on the Lebanese population. And this too can be felt in the air. Almost palpably. Yes, yes, new government has been formed yada yada. But people are now more realistic. At least more of them are. They know how difficult the situation is and that the times of miracles are long past. 

So there, a new season is upon us.... and yes, "the autumn leaves" will soon be drifting "by the window". Tomorrow we will make a big cleaning in the upper floor as we prepare to lock the house upstairs for winter.... Still too early to do so downstairs. But there is nothing usual or normal about these times. Just one foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

College de la Sagesse Achrafieh - and this is how we do it!

Except for one year when we were in a different locale, I have spent all my school years at Sagesse - Achrafieh. Which is why the video for the rehabilitation of the locale following the Beirut blast is doubly moving. Sadly I was unable to locate the agency that did it. What I loved the most, apart from the archival material, is how understated but very punchy it all is. In case you do not know the building itself which houses the classes and administration has an iconic architecture (so much that when they did the club for the graduates across the road, they tried to replicate that same architecture). On all accounts, too many names passed by that place, and as our Arabic teacher used to say "the walls whisper to you what to do". The copy of the video is flawless and the delivery is perfect (turns out it was my friend Patrick Chemali - no relation - who was behind the voice off delivery!), the images moving but with a very dignified visual tone. You can see the full video here.

Beirut is talking again - post financial crash and post explosion

Photo by Tarek Chemaly

Beirut is talking again. For a long time, the city was "mute". Believe it or not it happened before the explosion of August 4th. Something was odd, whatever Beirut was regurgitating was forumulatic things - through its walls and alleys and its whole sentiment and being. A long time ago (in 2008) and in an interview with a Swedish newspaper, I said "Beirut is like a snake, it needs to shed its skin periodically" - not caring who or what it hurts in the process.

Yes, Beirut is a treacherous entity. Schizophrenic, with different personalities cohabitating all at once, and as I said, all of them stopped talking at the same time. As if there was this whole new modus operandi being reworked, to sound cliché, a matrix being reloaded. But when I went to Beirut on Saturday for my first vaccine dose (yay!), I noticed something different about it - it was regaining life. Again, to be cliché once more, I am quoting Star Trek: "There's life Jim, but not as we know it".

When I say Beirut is regaining life, it is not the life "before". It is different than what was happening... before the financial crash and how it redefined socio-economic classes (see here) or the explosion which also targeted all strata of the society (see here). I know you might say I am just imagining this. Life is life after all. No, it is not. Not when the whole population went through the same trauma at the same time for the same reason, when already two prior generations (or more) had their war trauma undealt with.

Beirut (and Beirutis) is (are) still redefining itself (themselves) post-explosion and post-financial crash - and it is happening consciously or not. To quote that exceptional break up song by ABBA When All Is Said and Done, the city and its inhabitants are "slightly worn, dignified, and not too old for sex".

Nothing like a financial crisis, a pandemic, and an explosion to make a city reassess its identity. 

Johnnie Walker: Platitudes galore

Where does on begin? Johnnie Walker just unleashed a prepackaged, lowest common denominator, cliche filled ad - oh and the whole ad has one (ONE!) person wearing a mask! Everyone else is without it. Before I go on, perhaps you should see the ad here! Apparently, we have "resilience" and that people "deserve the best" and that "from rock bottom we have risen up" and "the city breathes again". If anyone is willing to mistake Beirut - the damaged, the shuttered, the pseudo-empty, the shell of its former self - with Lalaland, Johnnie Walker would be it. Many many brands have ridden the motivational wave, but at least there was "some" logic in it, but going back to Johnnie Walker, all I can do is quote The Eagles' "Hotel California" with "some dance to remember/some dance to forget" - and this applies to drinking in a city that is currently under the weight of a "perfect storm" where all elements are feeding on one another. And please spare me the "keep walking" because at this stage we are a populace that is "walking wounded".