I wanted to post about the gas price drop today but I thought I collaborate to plus961′s funny post instead.

As you all know, the gas prices dropped by 5,000 LL after the weekend crisis caused by the political bickering between Raya el Hassan and Gebran Bassil. Of course with the current tensions in the region and mainly in Libya, you can expect the prices to get back to 35,000 LL within few weeks time.

Nevertheless, here’s a continuation of the list of stuff you can buy for this extra 5,000 LL you now have in your pockets :

6- 10 Unica Chocolate bars.
7- Half a Chawarma from Boubouffe.
8- 1 Man2ouche Zaatar from Zaatar wou Zeit.
9- 10 Manakish Zaatar from Ghalayini.
10- 1 Grilled Potato Appetizer from Crepaway (Plus the 500 LL tips).
11- 1 Chocolate Pancake from Roadster.
12- 1 Hot Dog from Frank Wurst Kiosk

Feel free to add whatever comes to your mind.

Royal Drama “The King’s Speech” won four Oscars on Sunday, taking three of the top Academy Award prizes including best actor for Britain’s self-deprecating Colin Firth. [Source]

The movie is based on a true story, the story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. [imdb]

I saw this movie yesterday and it definitly deserves all those Oscars, specially the best actor award. I also saw few weeks “Black Swan” for which Natalie Portman won best actress award. For those who think it’s just another ballet movie, think again.

There’s still Inception, The Fighter and The social network which won awards and I plan to watch.

And did not ask her about mentioning “Lebanese” in her latest song!

It is like this guy Steve Peters from NRJ didn’t even listen to the song before making the interview.

[Picture from NowLebanon]

You don’t need revolutions for the internet to go off in Lebanon. All you need is a bad weather and the internet seizes to exist. So if anyone is planning some e-revolution like the one in Egypt, I suggest they wait until the summer.

300 was showing on the TV right now when my brother mentioned to me the giant from 300 is his friends’ relative and is Lebanese. I checked out the full crew and it turns out it is true. Giant with arrow is Camille Rizkallah.

You can watch the fight scene here. [YouTube]

We all thought there were only speculations this time as well, but the gas crisis is real and is happening. I don’t know what planet LBC is living in, as they claim only 20% of gas stations are closed and there’s barely any traffic in the open ones.

My brother went to fill up the car this morning and all 7 stations he visited refused to fill up gas. Funny thing is that the foreign workers in the still operational gas stations are now working like bouncers we find in night clubs whereas they pick whomever they want and deny others.

All this because of the stubbornness of a minister and an antique political system that still relies on the government to regulate fuel prices.

I got yesterday the new 50,000 bill and It is still the same size as the old one but looks much nicer. I really don’t understand why the Lebanese Central Bank can’t come out with smaller bills. The 100,000 LL is even bigger than the 50,000 LL and barely fits in any wallet.

I wonder how big will be the 500,000 bill they plan to release in the future?

[Picture]

I don’t know how some of our politicians or officials manage to sleep at night while manipulating us like puppets on a daily basis. Every week, we have to rush to fill our tanks because Mr.Gebran Bassil won’t sign new prices until the gas prices drop by 3000 LL and Ms. Raya el Hassan wants a 5000 LL drop but cannot do anything before the government (which one?) meets and then have the decree signed by the president of the republic.

To annoy us even further, the gas stations refuse to operate if the prices are not fixed or adjusted because they are buying gas at a more expensive price every week. Most people are no longer concerned with the peaking gas prices, but rather whether they can fill up gas to get to work or not.

In the middle of all this, I wonder how every one of those politicians will have enough gas for his 20+ cars convoy.

The Wonderaday blog posted beautiful pictures of Beirut hoping that people around the world will see Lebanon and Beirut as they truly are. [Link]

That’s not real of course, it was created by a very creative YouTube user called mantoof4. I don’t know who he is but I love the other videos he’s created which you can check below. I guess he’s like our digital Banksy?

Bei Ru “Little Armenia (L.A.)” Official Trailer (Album Available 11.19.10) from Bei Ru on Vimeo.

Just found out about this Lebanese Armenian artist from LA called Bei Ru. The music really kicks ass, he’s like an Armenian DJ Shadow.

Sampling is archeology. Digging through crates for obscure old records and drafting the sounds of times past into contemporary music is as much about preserving the past as digging for bones is. Few musicians take that pursuit as literally as L.A. native DJ/Producer Bei Ru. He has traveled across the Middle East on a mission to hunt down rare, obscure, and out-of-print Armenian records, which he uses to create a never-before-heard blend of vintage Armenian melodies mixed with touches of hip hop, funk, & soul. He breathes new life into these songs on Little Armenia (L.A.), an intoxicating voyage through rhythm and melody that serves not only as a dedication to the under-appreciated Armenian musicians of yesteryear and a homage to the Little Armenia section neighborhood of Los Angeles, but also as a musical map of the Armenian diaspora.

Kick ass! Here is a link to his website [Link]
Below is an interview with Bei Ru from last year.

Here’s an exclusive picture I got from MP Nadim Gemayel’s facebook for the Mar Maroun statue inaugurated in the Vatican.

The cost of the statue was almost half a million euros and was donated by Antoine Choueiri’s family. It is an impressive statue to be honest and I look forward to visiting it. It is also a great honour for Lebanon.

1- He has been ruling for over 43 years and is considered one of the longest serving rules of the world [Full List]. Also, he has reportedly awarded himself the title “King of Kings of Africa” title.

2- All his bodyguards are women and are hand-picked and trained by Ghaddafi himself. They are all virgins and take a vow of chastity. They also wear lipstick, jewellery, polished nails, and even high heels. [More]

3- Ghaddafi’s name can be spelt in 5 different ways: Gadhafi, Gaddafi, Khaddafy, Kaddafi, or Qaddafi. [Source]

4- Ghaddafi was born in a tent and since he took power has been living in tents only. No matter what country he visits, he requires a tent be set for him. Here’s a picture of the tent he set in Paris while visiting President Sarkozy.

5- Gaddafi is afraid of heights and fears flying over water and prefers to stay on the ground floor of a hotel – that is if he can’t put up his tent! [Source]

6- Gaddafi is also said to rely heavily on his staff of four Ukrainian nurses, including a woman named Galyna Kolotnytska, who is described as a “voluptuous blonde” and having massive knockers according to wikileaks. [Link]

I had mentioned in my Valentine post that I had dinner at Stove Restaurant and Terrace in Monot. Stove is a restaurant specialized in French cuisine that has opened recently in a beautifully renovated old Lebanese house facing Palais (previously Crystal & Circus).

We sat inside since it’s winter season now and the terrace is not yet open. We were given the wine list menu at first and it was a huge list, mainly containing wine bottles from France and some local ones, with the least expensive one costing around 40$. The inconvenience here, mainly when you’re a couple and one person doesn’t drink much, was that we only had three types of wines to choose from per glass while we had to order the whole bottle otherwise. We ended up ordering two glasses of a white whine from Bourgogne which turned out to be very good.

As for the food, we checked out the menu and it was quite difficult to understand so we asked the waiter for some help and she was very helpful.

We finally settled on ordering marinated salmon and snails with mushrooms as appetizers. Both were really good but the portion sizes were small. Moving on to the main dishes, my gf ordered caramlized pork ribs with pommes fruit (apple) while I had an entrecote with steamed vegetables. The caramelized pork ribs were awesome and my gf could barely finish her platter. The entrecote was as good and very filling as well.

Last but not least, we ordered for dessert pain perdu and a chocolate cake. Chocolate cake was not bad but the pain perdu was so freaking yummy and had lots of rhum which is how i like it, and was almost as good as the one I had at Eau de vie once. Too bad though that they did not have any chocolate fondu on the menu, pretty weird for a french restaurant not to have this.

In all, this is a great place to go for a certain occasion, specially Valentine or a special occasion, as the place is relaxing and calm. However the meals are very sophisticated and the prices relatively high. If you order a decent bottle of wine, two appetizers, two main dishes and dessert, you will end up paying at least 60$ per person.

For those who like cote de boeuf, there are two dishes that you can order for 2 or 4 people if I recall well, each costing over 100$.

If you want to visit Stove, it is recommended that you call and reserve in advance as it is apparently always packed. [Contact Stove]