Dear Starbucks Kuwait,

I am an avid Latte fan.. 

I wake up to lattes, , I get lattes to go, I sip lattes in the car, I crave lattes; the whole 9 yards..

And lately with the lack of productivity in my life, I send for lattes, which means that when I get my latte I always have to peel that irritating scotch tape off the mouth piece, something my local Starbucks Baristas' do to stop the coffee from spilling over on it's way.. 

Don't get me wrong, I think its such a creative idea with minimum cost, i mean how much would a roll of scotch tape cost a day? 

But is it sanitary and hygienic? 

Why don't you just do what other overseas Starbucks' and most importantly the Japanese do and have a clever plastic rod/stopper given with the drink? 

Taken on a recent trip in Japan

Clever, Low cost, and serves its purpose.. (**is also used to stir sugar as well)

Sometimes, it's the little things that matter.. 

xx

Baroque 

Ps. Compliments will not get you any further.. 

My Favorite Character on Canvas.

If i was ever asked to pick my favorite Art-Character, as in my favorite ever drawn/painted person in the Art World, I'd totally pick the "Wood Nymph" from Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" Magnum Opus.. 

A Close Up Of The Wood Nymph

The Wood Nymph in the "Birth of Venus" Painting

I love the way the fabric pleats and folds were caught by the Artist as if her clothes were dancing in the slight breeze, notice that he put a lot of emphasis on her fashion and not her personally, since we don't see much of her face, but merely her outfit which is made of lavish printed fabric that seems to sway with the wind... 

Her hair is exquisitely drawn, her strawberry blonde hair styled in a medieval style with her curled ringlets beautifully floating in the air.. 

I love how he emphasizes motion in the whole painting, it really looks like the nymph is leaping with the fabric to cover the nude Venus, who was just blown in from sea on a shell..

This character, the Wood Nymph, an alleged Grecian Goddess, is my favorite painted renaissance persona, I love how Botticelli makes all the objects/characters in his paintings seem harmonious, serene and beautiful, even if they are never drawn to scale (**a talent all renaissance artists took pride in, to draw a human being perfectly to scale anatomically..)

For in the end, isn't Art supposed to be beautiful and a "sight for sore eyes"?

What is your favorite Art Character or Peice of Art for that matter? 

xx

Baroque 

Ps. A thousand ideas, 1 bottle-neck, endless possibilities. 

Photo Credits: Web Museum

For more information: E.H Gombrich (**best Art Historian, I highly recommend his "The Story of Art" book for art lovers out there, it's kind of huge but ever so worth it..) 

When are we ever going to go "Green"?

The whole world is going green, it's not just a fad like most people assumed it would be, countries are actually doing everything in their power to go green and live sustainably without depleting resources, energy, etc.. 

Take Abu Dhabi, the UAE Emirate for example, it just announced that it was taking part in a Solar Energy Venture, and is cultivating its own "Solar Farm."

Basically, they are going to switch/try to harvest as much solar energy as they can and transform that into electricity/energy to utilize as opposed to depending on merely oil..  Click here for a whole article about that, very interesting i must say.. 

Clever, but was so evidently bound to happen.. 

I mean, speaking as a Gulf Citizen and putting all differences in the environment aside, we Gulf States all have the three tangible factors to get solar energy: Lot of sun, blinding sun, hot sun, thereby perfect solar rays to turn into energy, and excess cash to use to invest in that.. 

In a time where many oil producing/exporting nations have switched into importing ones, since internal consumption seems to go higher every day (examples being Indonesia, and a couple of nations that have drastically cut their exports in order to fulfill internal demand first), we actually need such alternative sources of energy.. 

Below, is an example of how the Sony Building in Japan is being run by alternative clean energy forms; I took this picture whilst there recently, it really caught my eye; I wonder if we will ever achieve that someday here.. 

Sony Building in Ginza, Tokyo.

Sign outside the building (Click to zoom in.)

Sadly there seems to be nothing about clean energy sources or even research and development/investing in this "Go Green Venture" in the news, not even on the country's agenda I assume..

As Abu Dhabi is catching the sun's rays and utilizing solar energy, we seem to be attempting to build parks... Green spaces I suppose are a start? Hmmmmm...

 

It's no Hyde Park, but seems to be a start.. 

Pun intended on oh so many levels, it's just sad.. 

Down with "Slow and Steady Wins the Race,"

We need to switch on the Green Traffic Light already, and get a move on... 

"ما صارت هل" stuck in reverse... 

xx

Baroque 

Ps. Bored silly. 

"Proud to Be Kuwaiti"

Visited the "Proud to be Kuwaiti" fair yesterday, I must say I was impressed.. 

The turn out was amazing, scary crowded with no room to move, but great nonetheless for such an influential initiative.. 

Basically, they host a "Kuwaiti Trade Show", in which almost every Kuwaiti young entrepreneur or new business/creative idea is showcases in the series of booths all housed in Al Rayaa Ballroom.. 

Let's just say, almost all of Kuwait was there.. 

You'd bump into people you haven't seen since high school, people you only see when traveling and acquaintances who have suddenly shown a passion for the weirdest most wonderful things and are showcasing their products/ideas there.. 

The event not only gives you insight to the many hidden talents, bright ideas, and innovative solutions that you did not even think were present in K-Town, it also gives one the urge to go out there and create something meaningful, like start a new venture, or something.. 

I highly recommend it to anyone in Kuwait at this time, today is the last day, it'll start from 5 ish till 11 pm and will be held at Al-Raaya Ballroom a part of the Marriot Courtyard Hotel in the City..  

Be ready to see some interesting ventures, but also be careful it's going to be utterly crowded too.. 

In context, "الكويتي أنفع"

Go Show your support, 

xx

Baroque

For more information: Proud to Be Kuwaiti (PB2K website)

Photo Credits: Z District, Marzouq has uploaded a lot of other photos of the event, check them out here. 

"How do you like your eggs in the morning?"

I like mine with a "note on toast"? 

"This toaster by Sasha Tseng incorporates a little message board where one can read quick notes. The message also gets “toasted” into the toast itself so it gives new meaning to “read while you eat”."

Gives a new meaning to "food for thought.."

Creative design that adds an innovative twist to a mundane household appliance that creates scrumptiously clever treats! 

I love.  

xx

Baroque

Ps. Once upon a time; start of same old story...

For more information on this innovative toaster: Yanko Design

Who are you?

I love the start of semesters for one thing, and one thing only; it's the "get to know your classmates" activity.. 

You know the activity where the instructor asks everyone in class to say a couple of things about themselves to better introduce them to their classmates and kind of give the instructor a feel of what the class is all about.. 

Well, I always notice one thing, and its almost always the first sentence that my fellow classmates utter.. 

Call me, an over analyzer, but I notice how they describe themselves.. 

Almost everyone that hailed from a Middle Eastern background, and mostly Kuwaitis to be exact said their full name, as in their first name and last name (**take note that a lot of Levant Arabs, and North African Arabs, did not always have the same response, it was mostly the Gulf-region students)..

An extreme indication of their collectivist culture.. 

We are a culture that puts more emphasis on the "group" as opposed to the "individual.."

We are not single person's drifting around in space, we belong to a group, and that group is what defines us most of the time; maybe it's because we had a bedouin background, and our forefathers lived in groups moving around the desert?

This realization and the result of a couple of classes on Social Psychology and Organizational Behavior made it ever so easy to answer the following GMAT prep question: 

Give your opinion on the following statement: "As adults we prefer to define ourselves more by our occupation than by our affiliation with social groups."

and guess what? 

I totally disagreed. 

What's your say?

xx

Baroque

"Oh I wish I was a Punk Rocker with flowers in my hair"

They looked like they were bringing "Flower Power" back prancing down the runway with those gypsy like locks,  tres hippy-tastic head bands, and multi colored clothes.. 

Diane Von Furstenburg nailed the Hippy look in her ready to wear Spring/Summer 2009 collection.. 

I love the colors, the hair, and just about everything; they look so surreal! 

Can it be? 

Is the "flower revolution" is making a come back? 

Anything is viable, after all no one believed that  we would eventually hear the phrase "Yes, We Can."

Perhaps, "History (really) does repeat itself.."

We are in desperate need of some positivity, some laid-back no fuss/stress living, minus the drugs and inappropriate behaviors, 

something along the line of : "Make Love not War!"

xx

Baroque

Ps. Ignorance is still and will always be bliss. 

NB. Title is part of Sandie Thom's song "Oh I wish I was a Punk Rocker."

Photo Credits: Style.com

"يا ما تحت السواهي دواهي"

Even though I was raised in an authentic Kuwaiti household, I have had lots of Levant Culture influences (**mostly Palestinian)..

Our housekeeper is Palestinian, she helped raise me and my siblings.. 

My first tutor, and person who helped me survive school was Palestinian..  

My teachers in school all seemed to be Palestinians too.. 

So yeah, I kind of have the accent down to a beat; in fact I surprised a Palestinian employee at the Four Seasons Milan this summer with a couple of sentences, that ironically made him exclaim "شوو انتي ابتحكي لهجتنا؟" (**an utterly cute statement, little did he know that i was immersed into their culture and know the difference geographically between "شويكه" and "رام الله".. and how to use "كلتلوا" and "كاللي" in understandable sentences)..

and So I was tres thrilled upon seeing the following bag displayed on Dia Diwan: 

With the catchy and very true statement "يا ما تحت السواهي دواهي"  embroidered on it, this bag made by Sarah's Bag- a popular Lebanese Designer Brand- made me smile and brought back memories of the many proverbs/sayings my tutor, teachers and housekeeper constantly said... 

This one in particular was a consensus they all reached.. 

I guess, it's true, things are never as they seem..

So nice to have old quotes and sayings being used in modern pop culture, be it in fashion, or even Art.. 

By keeping those inklings of wisdom, we preserve a bit of culture thereby keeping a partial slice of history alive.. 

xx

Baroque 

Ps. To count one's blessings is to reflect on the miracle of life. 

PPs. Everyone that walks into your life, leaves a mark somewhere. 

Photo Credits: Dia Diwan Global Souk

When Cotton Candy meets Designer.

So the Golden Globes have come and gone but i can't get that dress out of my mind... 

Lusciously lilac, with fabric reminscent of cotton candy, and a blingy yet very simple belt (**total oxymoron i know, i wonder if that was a real diamond brooch on the belt, what a fabulous idea for upcoming weddings)... 

Whoever said the art of dress-making wasn't an art did not see the zillion or so photos of the awards dresses dispatched and published in almost all forms of magazine, and blogs included...

Forever stuck in one's memory. 

Well done, Reem Acra.

xx

Baroque

PS. I'd give you 3/5's of it. 

When Pop Art Starts Speaking Arabic.

Brilliant, just Brilliant... 

Such a cute twist, 

Note she has an Emiraty Accent..

Now if someone would just Kuwait-inize this and I don't just mean change what she's saying; perhaps add a nest for hair, ultra red huge lips, and black smoky eyes, with a tad bit extra lycra in the clothes, lol should get a perfect stereotype in place and maybe just maybe make her say "Ay-Shaay?"

I love the ridiculousness that Pop Art can pertain and get away with..  

any takers?

xx

Baroque 

Ps. Lack of oxygen seems to be related to high pressure.

Photo Credits: Found this amusing picture on the following blog, "Fushsia Fashoniya";unfortunately do not know who created it, or edited it to look like that; if you do, please let me know. 

Clothes take a backseat at a Fashion Show?

True that the most interesting part of any fashion show are the clothes.. 

However, sometimes the clothes get overshadowed by the runway/catwalk itself.. 

I love it when Fashion Houses/Designers put in a bit of effort and not only dress the models, but also completely redress the runways as well.. 

Some designers add a bit of special effects such as the showering of leaves at the finale of the Burberry Porsum 2008 Fall RTW show, which made it really look like the fashion show was actually taking place on an Autumn day.. 

Others pull off a major upheaval and totally re-construct the runway to look like it was being set in an actual fairground, complete with a Chanel Inspired Carousel... 

But just a few take drastic measures, such as Fendi in 2007, who took the runway idea to another level and actually constructed their catwalk in China, on the Wall Of China to be exact making the runway look like it was part of this Great Wall; Creative, Daring, as well as tres expensive, $10 million dollars worth.. 

Nonetheless, those runways are truly a sight for sore eyes, adding some pizzazz to a once simple showing of clothes to buyers and the general public; forever transforming them into extravagant parades.. 

Burberry's Runway

 

"Chanel Carousel"

Chanel Closer Looks

Chanel Closer Look 2

Fendi "Great Wall of China Show" circa 2007

xx

Baroque

Ps. i c u y a a y. 

Billboard Blare.

Seems that Banksy is not the only one taking over the Street Art Scene, Jimmy Cauty has set his sights on somewhere else; he's using billboards as his canvas.. 

On first glance, they may seem like normal billboards dedicated to advertising, but look closer/actually read them.. 

True that most of his works revolve around "himself" and his attempt to self-market himself; a truly narcissistic objective to be frank.. 

But credit be given, he is really creative and quite fun.. 

I mean, how many people out there have ever really dedicated entire billboards to themselves/ solely advertised themselves through their art and most importantly through street art? (**i'm not talking about those stupid graffiti vandalizing punks that spray walls with their emails, names and numbers..)

But then again, many people consider Street Art, the vandalization of public property; one man's art is another man's graffiti.. 

Which side of the train track do you stand on? 

xx

Baroque 

Ps. Coming soon, mainstream yet mainstay.  

Photo Credits: Art of the State, Nuart, and Sky News Online. 

Interested in reading more about Jimmy Cauty, go to this amazing article on Nuart.

Wrapped Around My Finger.

Ever since I started downloading "The City"(** the new spin-off/sequel/continuation of "The Hills," minus all the characters except Whitney who ventures on to new grounds to conquer New York it seems, pretty good so far), I have not stopped thinking of rings.. 

Yes, rings, the ones you wear on your fingers.. 

But not just on any finger in particular, I'm loving them Whitney Style... 

One ring on each finger, preferably two fingers max,  or two rings stacked over each other on one finger to add a bit of flagrance, anything in excess will make you look like you're going to go street fighting, or better yet transform you into a gypsy.. 

Boho is in, but something a bit understated and interesting like the following rings by Pomellato (** a creative Italian Jewelry house that has been making headlines in more recent years in the way it seamlessly blends semi-precious stones with diamonds and metals to create bijoux like sets of jewelry, all of which have attained a somewhat cult following; incidentally they have a store here in Kuwait, part of the Al-Ostoura group of stores in Al-Thuraya..)   really do hit a home run and provide a more youthful approach to fine jewels..

 

"I've got the world on a string, I'm sitting on a rainbow, I've got that string around my finger, Oh what a world, What a Life I'm in Love" - As sung by Frank Sinatra 

But sung recently by Michael Buble, who did an amazing job by the way: 

Hope you can all make the rain go anytime you move your finger (**not literally, I hope it rains more over here),

xx

Baroque

 

Ps. Not in sync, so much worthwhile. 

Advertising; modern art incognito?

It's been said that the field of Advertising is actually Art in disguise, it's like the business community has kidnapped the essence of this art and "commissioned" it to the Mass Communication Fields; leaving Modern Art to perish? 

Lost talent or better opportunities? 

Hard to answer really since denying the creativity of many people working in the advertising industry would be a mortal sin, and overlooking the fact that Modern Art isn't cannon-ized by many people would be a huge error. 

Don't you just hate it when you encounter a "there is no wrong answer" question..  

Something along the lines of the following question, 

"Are Zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes?" 

(**threw it in as a punch line, don't google it and attempt to answer lol, although I did and they say that underneath all the hair zebra's might actually be black... hmmm...)

xx

Baroque

Ps. New beginnings meet past encounters; is there a way out? 

 

Marni goes "هيلقي"?

What do you get when you mix up every single pattern under the sun, from stripes to polka dot, with the occasional motif print blended in between? 

Marni Spring 2009 Ready to Wear.

Only Consuelo Castiglion (**Creative Director of Marni) could engineer such whimsical outfits, I mean who else would have their entire collection be shown in a "clash-y" perspective and yet get rave reviews..? 

Reminds me of the many "Clash" days we used to have in school, where every student tried to outdo the other with the most mismatched, fashion faux pas yet daring outfit he/she could muster.. 

Ironically, no matter how much the prints looked out of place on the runway, the ensembles/looks were very put together and made the models looked nothing less than lady-like.. 

A tad bit daring, but such a fresh take on prints nonetheless..

Out with match-y match-y it seems, 

Marni-Style 

xx

Baroque

Ps. Social Actor, a new twist on Social Worker it seems.. 

Photo Credits: Style.com, and NYMAG