The Lebanese Minimum Charge

(I'm back. My last post was back in May, I won't say I didn't have time, i did, but had no mood! hope you still remember me!)

Ever heard of a minimum charge rule elsewhere in the world?
If so, although I never did, we have some very unique standards here in Lebanon.
This happened a couple of weeks ago, but it usually has the same template whenever reserving in almost any restaurant/pub/lounge/night-club in Lebanon:

Them: Sir, each reservation that exceeds 15 persons has to be enrolled in a 35$ formula that includes shared cheese platters and salads (of course in tiny portions) or a 30$ minimum charge.
We require a down payment 48 hours before the reservation and an exact number of attendees a couple of hours before.
Me: What if I reserve twice for 14 persons using two different names?
Them: Hein?!


On a later stage, they informed us that they might reserve a couple of tables in our corner for other clients depending on the number of attendees.
The ridiculous thing is that this happened with a new local lounge in town, and when I went there for the first time, a week before my expected reservation, it was hardly 50% full.
It is not a very well-known fully booked place that can put any boundaries and still be over crowded (I can understand SKYBAR doing that) and it seems it will never be!

My point of view:
Shouldn't they encourage people to come and discover the place before putting some conditions?
Shouldn't they consider that this potential client might bring in 30 others, and that their feedback should be a good marketing tool?! (= more exposure = more clients = more money)
Even if you trained well your bartenders, and mixed some good cocktails, people won't know about it unless they come and enjoy their night. I can develop the best iPhone application ever, but without marketing, especially with a fresh portfolio, my app is worth nothing.

On the other side, Lebanon is suffering one of its worst summer seasons since ever! Protests, electricity cuts, internet issues, phone network issues, lawlessness, tourism failure, high cost of living, weapons, drugs… Instead of making things easier for themselves and for those who can still buy a drink, they double the restrictions!
This country is going down. Prove me wrong.

Boycott Tannoura Maxi

"A priest dreaming of having sex with a young lady in a church?!

Sex scenes on bell sounds?!

Ladies trying to seduce the priest during a mass inside the church?!

During war, the Christian community was busy getting drunk and enjoying harlotry..."

I heard lots of complaints about Tannoura Maxi, but I thought they were exaggerating; it seems they are not.

The director Mr. Joe Bou Eid (Director of the movie) said that they showed the movie script to a couple of priests for approval before production.
But it is also true that they didn’t put every single detail in that script.

So, there is a big difference between a priest dreaming about being with a lady, and dreaming of wild sex with her inside the church!

In his defense, Mr. Bou Eid declared that the movie reflects the true story of his father, who was a deacon (شدياق) when he fell in love with his mother.
But, in the movie, the claimed deacon wears a priest outfit (Which should not happen), and they call him “Father” (أبونا).

For those who don’t know, deacons can get married, but once declared priests, the laws of the church don't accept their marriage anymore.

To break the boringness of his father’s love story, he decided to put all this disrespectful scenes all over the movie.

Something has to change; people should wake up, because this has gone beyond “Freedom”.

Should it always be about war and religion? Should we always abuse every little space of liberty?

If we really want to change the Lebanese cinema producers' mentality, we need to tell them that this is not the only type of movies that sells in Lebanon.

And to do that, we should boycott that movie, and that’s what I’m going to do.

Watch the trailer below carefully and let me know what you think.

Lebanese Respect

I’ve always noticed how Lebanese act differently when it comes to art… And I hate it!
In the past couple of months, I watched Fairouz, Julia Boutros, and Georges Khabbaz’s play, and I couldn’t but mention this rude behavior.
 
In Concerts
Julia Boutros, for example, was accompanied by the City of Prague Philharmonic orchestra composed of more than 100 musicians. And I, honestly, attended that event to watch the orchestra performing.
While Julia was singing, people were listening, but when it comes to music, people keep on screaming and shouting in a way that you don’t hear the whole orchestra!
Teib enno common! These are one of the most famous/professional musical groups in the world! It took them a lot of time to prepare each and every piece of music and distribute it carefully, so we don’t listen to them!
Why can’t we listen to them the same way we listen to Julia?
And what annoys me the most is when people start applauding before the end of the song! We seriously have some respect issues! The endings were magnificent btw!
Same thing happened in Fairouz’s concert.
 
In Theaters
When it comes to a play, as soon as the performance ends, and just before the curtain call, people stand up and start leaving the theater!
And of course, even those sitting in front rows! How rude is that?!
You watched the whole show, and you just can’t wait to see the actors say thank you?!
Is ‘showing some respect’ too much to ask?!
 
Do you agree or you think I’m exaggerating?

Monday Moaning: SyriaTel?!

When reaching ineligible areas, you might expect losing your phone's network coverage.
But MTC touch always surprises you with the following text message:

Welcome to Syria. Enjoy roaming with the following 

operators: MTN: Sending SMS 0.5 USD/SMS.
Syriatel: Sending SMS 0.5 USD/SMS.

For assistance, dial             +961 3 800113      . 
mtc touch wishes you a pleasant stay!

I got three embedded moans today:

1. My first moan is obvious!
How the hell SyriaTel antennas cover cities along the border more than our local operators?!
2. If anyone tried calling you, they won't be able to reach you of course.
3. Why do they send you that welcoming message (Sender: MTC Touch, and not SyriaTel) when your phone changes to SyriaTel's network, but they don't welcome you back when transferring to their network again??!!

I'm pretty sure Alfa has the same issue too.

P.S. You might get this message in some eligible areas too! (For example: Dahr El Baydar)

1950s Lebanese Mafioso

A couple of days ago, I was watching Serpico, a 1973 (true story) movie starring Al Pacino.

Unlike other cops, Frank Serpico was a police officer who didn’t accept any kind of bribes. In fact, he was the first one to fight the organized bribe collection.

At some point, a police chief tells him (Frank Serpico) “This could be the biggest thing...since the Harry Gross case.”

And since I love searching for these stuff, I looked online for Harry Gross, and I found two New York Times articles:

•           The lonely death of a man who made a scandal
•           Harry Gross Is Suicide; Bookmaker in '51 Case

Harry Gross was a bookmaker convicted in running multimillion-dollar gambling operations, involving hundreds of corrupted policemen, some of them were convicted, and others resigned or dismissed.

He was also convicted in some drug operations, and beating his wife’s grandfather to death!

Why am I sharing this?

If you read the second article (Harry Gross is suicide; Bookmaker in ’51 Case) you can’t but notice that this historical/hysterical guy had a Lebanese partner called Najib Daoud!

And this is how we roll… since ever!

The Real Christmas Spirit

As soon as December starts, you start feeling the Christmas spirit all over the country.
Some of us enjoy checking the decorations everywhere, buying gifts for friends and family, special dinners...
That was the reason of my Christmas spirit a couple of years ago.
What gives me the true heartwarming feeling is something called 'Tournée Père Noêl' or Tour of Santa Clause.

Who does that?
There is a scout group in Jounieh called GSS (Groupement Social Scout).
This group is composed of multiple units and each of these units focuses on different topics. One of these units is called 'Unité Service Social' which takes care of a large number of poor families and old people all year long.
These families usually have some very specific cases:

• Very poor families.
• Orphans.
• Terrible parents.
• Old and disabled parents...

Other than providing provisions, medications and support for old people, and organizing a 3 months full-time summer camp for all the kids of these families, on the 24th of December, at 7h30pm, this unit has a very sacred mission to do. That would be the ‘Tournée Père Noêl’.


What is it all about?
They gather in Collège des Apôtres - Jounieh, split into multiple groups, which each of them has one Santa Clause, and a specific region to cover.
This tour consists of passing by all these families, dancing and caroling with the kids. Then Santa gives each kid a couple of well-chosen gifts, after listening to him/her singing a Christmas song, while others put a pack of provision in the kitchen, if exists.

Seeing these kids happy, and the parents/grandparents (or other family members) shedding tears silently makes me come back each and every year to take part of this tour.
Even though they have the most horrifying cases, I'm always amazed by their happiness and thankfulness.

What can you do?
If you feel like helping, you can help by either donating money, or any provision unit.
For more info, visit their Facebook page, and you'll find all the needed details for a heartwarming Christmas.
They need us to keep this going and growing.

The look that makes me come back
 (taken from the website of @Krikorianm)

Joining our Angel... Myriam

While the play came to an end, Saint John (@BigDaou) stood up in the middle of the stage for his final speech, said a few words and... Silence! he completely forgot the script.
I was sitting in front, trying to control my laugh, when I hear a sweet and very loud laugh next to me... And that was Myriam! :)

This last Sunday, my good old friend Joe and I were remembering this funny moment that happened years ago, saying how funny her laugh was, and how funny Myriam is, and we both looked forward for the upcoming scout Christmas evening (Veillée de Nôel).
The next day, Myriam went missing, and you know the rest...

Anyone who knew Myriam can't but mention her faith, her smile and her amazing laugh.
What gives her parents, family and friends a bit of consolation, is their confidence that she's next to her creator, smiling peacefuly from up there.
When checking the video below, you'll have an idea of the amount of faith this family have.

I've read lots of articles, blog posts and comments about this heinous crime for the past few days, and I thought I'd share an opinion
First, Myriam was not raped! SHE WAS NOT RAPED, she fought it until her last breath.
Take a minute to read Liliane's post! 
Second, concerning the report on Kalam Ennas, I was there when they recorded it, and it was just after knowing that the murderer used to be in the Syrian intelligence (which explains his cold blood) and that he might escape somehow! 
All what the family was saying is that they will act IF and only IF he gets released somehow.
If he gets released, not only we should act against him, but also against the whole cabinet, the officials and the president, and R.I.P. our government.
Third, this is no sectarian crime, and the family knows that. He's just a psychopath that should stay alone in a prison for the rest of his life.
Since everyone is thinking about keeping a pepper spray or a taser gun with them, it is important that we all join Myriam, the Achkar family, friends and Patriarch Bechara Rahi for a mass in Bkerki, tomorrow (Sunday) at 10h00 am to pray for Myriam and shout for justice. For more info check this facebook event.
Myriam, May your soul rest in peace, we will never forget you.