Cutest Key Chains EVER!

These guys sell other cool handmade key chains too, in the same style. I’ll definitely be ordering a butt load soon.

[link]

Asian Market

Does anyone know if there’s an Asian Market in Kuwait? Or a place that sells Asian foods like tiny crabs and seaweed crackers and other stuff like that? Sultan Center has a sad selection.

Buck Up

So yesterday, I decided to do something I didn’t want to do. I put up my whole DVD collection up on eBay. I love my DVDs and I take good care in selecting them for my collection and making sure I keep them scratch-free. Being a “special edition” freak, most of my titles are multiple discs or box sets. I decided to keep the complete series of Roseanne, the first two seasons of the Muppet Show, the Beatles Anthology, the Billy Connolly Essential Box Set, Police Academy Collection, Brokeback Mountain (Special 2-disc Edition), and the Da Vinci Code (Special 3-disc Edition). The rest are all up for a set price of $500. The collection is worth a lot more because again, most are special editions and plus I have great taste in movies! They are a total of 71 titles (I count box sets as one).

I just don’t want to deal with the hassle of shipping them or taking them with me when I finally move back home. Worrying about if everything arrives safely, if they get lost or stolen, or just dealing with customs will be a pain in the ass.

I guess it’s better this way, now I will be able to start a new collection. Perhaps I can go ahead with Blu-ray DVDs. It’s ironic that I bought a DVD on Friday and it’s now included in the collection I’m selling.

World’s Thinest Notebook

I am not happy at all.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Co., delivered his annual January Macworld keynote today announcing great new products and updates for the millions of fans and soon to be fans of Apple and the Mac software. It really is a global love affair with this company.

Of those products was the MacBook Air, the thinest notebook in the world, which is 0.76 inches thick. It looks stunning and as usual, I quickly developed a lust. The cheapest one comes standard at $1699 (I get a $100 student discount) and I thought that I was definitely going to get it by May. But when I went to the Apple Online Store, I found a few things about it that turned me off.

No disc drive.
I use the CD/DVD drive a lot because I burn DVDs occasionally and I make CDs for my friends too. I’m also currently working on a project at home transferring all our home videos from VHS onto the computer and then onto DVDs. Apple has made an external drive to go with the MacBook Air and I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t usually burn DVDs outside the house (because it takes a long time) but I do make the CDs when I’m out. Apparently it’s very portable and easy to carry around. So I’m kind of neutral about this.

No ethernet port.
I was really surprised with this. There are a total of three ports on this notebook: audio out, one USB 2.0, and micro-DVI. Ethernet is very important! Not everyone has access to wireless internet. Example: I wouldn’t be able to use it at my dorm here since for some reason, wireless access to the university network is not available on the resident floors, only on the main floor and the basement. I have it back at home but what if the wireless is down? With my iBook all I have to do is plug in the ethernet cable. Again, there is an external ethernet adapter available to those who want it.

They have compromised a lot to make the thinest notebook in the world. I’m not impressed. The external options are good enough to please others, but it’s not enough for me to go ahead and get it. I was waiting on getting a new Mac this year but I had to see what was about to be released. It’s a phenomenal design and I’m sure the new trackpad features are amazing as well. However, it looks like the MacBook will still remain on my shopping list for this year. After my custom add-ons and student discount, the total comes to $1450. That is a pretty decent price for all the things I want in a new notebook.

Hopefully many people feel the same way I do and request that the next line of notebooks to include the basic features that are essential.

MAD’s Greatest Artists Series

A series of hardcover volumes has just been launched of the legendary cartoonists and artists that have been working at MAD Magazine over the years. The first of them Don Martin. MAD’s Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin features every single cartoon/art work/cover by Don Martin in the 30 years he was at MAD Magazine in chronological order.

I love MAD Magazine and I was raised with old issues from the 70s, 80s and early 90s lying around our house. My dad used to read them while he was in college in the 70s and he even brought back a huge collection of paperback special editions when he came back to Kuwait. They are now on my bookshelf and I take very good care of them. I had a subscription for a year in 2003-2004 and I thought they were OK. They humor has changed but the great quality of cartooning and drawing is still excellent, even though many of the original artists are not there anymore.

Anyway, Don Martin’s cartoons are HILARIOUS. A large part of that is due to weirdest ever sound effects and his extremely unique style of cartooning. I don’t think any other person in the world draws like that without the intention of trying to adopt his style.

I can’t wait to see which artist will be next in this series. I hope it’s Dave Berg. He drew the “Lighter Side Of..” comics. I loved them because they were a great way of actually understanding the American culture, society and lifestyle of the times.

The price tag on this is $150. A bit pricey but it’s definitely worth it, and you can find cheaper prices online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I’m also planning on buying the The Complete Calvin and Hobbes and then giving my old paperbacks to my little brother. I don’t think he’s ever read any but I’m sure he’ll love them.

Whatever - On This and That

In America, college kids always get “care packages” from their older family members especially during their freshman year. Parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents send packages with canned food, homemade cookies and other stuff that are useful.

I’m in my senior year and I never got one… UNTIL YESTERDAY! The package had my old sneakers that I forgot to pack, a white wool chmaq from my dad which I also forgot to pack, a giant flag of Kuwait to hang up on my wall, cute tin boxes of Patchi gerge’aan from my uncle and Khaleeji cookbooks!

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New Products At My Mom’s Store

Exactly a year ago my mom opened a shop in Galleria 2000 in Salmiya for bed, bath and table linens. She specializes in 100% Egyptian cotton and pure linen and in long tablecloths - minimum 3.5m and longer because these are NOT available in Kuwait at all. This stuff is great as “gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, new mothers, new homes, etc. because her stuff is original, not too expensive and won’t be thrown out in a few days (flowers) or add inches to your waistline (chocolates)!”

Recently, she brought in a new line of products. Sherry Linens now offers Italian double faced quilts in silk and cotton. These look and feel fantastic. I really love them. Check out the images below.

There is also a catalogue at the store with a large collection of designs and colors that could be ordered in any size and in any of three types: light, medium and heavy. The ones available now are mostly medium and only two light ones. Coordinated cushions can also be ordered in several sizes and designs.

Coming soon is a collection of sleepwear (nightgowns, dressing gowns, pyjamas), also from Italy.

Location: Galleria 2000 mall in Salmiya. Next door to Plaza.
Opening hours: 9:30am - 1:30pm / 5:30pm - 9:30pm (Saturdays thru Thursdays)
Ramadhan hours: 8:30pm - 11:30pm (Saturdays thru Thursdays)
Tel #: 5722434