ammaro.com

This is the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 10:27:00 +0000

This is the future. The future we read about and saw in movies when we were younger. It may be a little different, but this is definitely it, and it becomes more apparent as we go along.

The other day I drove past 7 kids on those "hoverboards", just cruising down the side of the street. My car told me which roads to avoid because an accident had just happened right there and then by crunching up tons of data from hundreds of cars that had slowed down on a specific street. I walked past a coffee shop with a guy sitting outside with a VR headset on his head talking to someone I couldn't see while staring into the distance. All one needs to do is take a look at the skyline of a new city like Dubai or Shanghai and flashback to Blade Runner.

We may have gotten a few things off in the movies of the 80's and 90's, but make no mistake, the future we foresaw is now and we are living it, and things are moving faster than ever. It's an interesting time.

Who is King Salman?

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:25:00 +0000

The King is Dead. Long live the King!

Or so the saying goes. King Abdullah of Saudi passed away in the early hours of the morning, and was immediately succeeded by his brother, Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

What this means for a region in the middle of uncertainty is not immediately clear. The threat of ISIS throbs against the Saudi borders, while the low price of oil has promised a shock to the country's economy for the coming period. Add to that regional tensions following the "Arab Spring", as well as Saudi's own internal tensions, and you've got a ticking time bomb.

Let's take a look at the new monarch, King Salman, and who he is:

- Born in 1935
- Governor of the Riyadh Province from 1963-2011
- Saudi Minister of Defence since 2011
- Appointed as Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister in 2012

Headed the Al-Saud Family Council, and is considered to have a conciliatory and diplomatic nature, being actively involved in mediating many internal family disputes.

Strong advocate for philanthropy in poor Muslim countries such as Somalia, Bangladesh, Sudan, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

He is regarded as intelligent and hard-working, honest and law-abiding (his governance of the Riyadh Province was reportedly corruption-free).

Very involved in media, with his family owning Asharq Al-Awsat and Al Eqtisadiah newspapers, as well as a percentage of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group (which publishes Arab News and others), as well as having connections to liberal e-newspaper Elaph and strong alliances with many journalists and TV-News directors in the region.

In terms of views on reform, King Salman had previously said that reforms, for social reasons and not religious reasons, cannot be imposed by the Saudi Government as there will be negative reactions, and the pace and extent of reforms depends on social and cultural factors.

He is considered to take more of a diplomatic approach to opposition figures as compared to other Saudi royals, but is not necessarily a political reformer. He is also considered to be, as King Abdullah before him, more focused on economic improvement of the country rather than political change.

With all that being said, how the new King handles the country for the next coming years will be a very significant factor in the development of the immediate region, and will have repercussions regionally and globally. Long live the King!

The World Knows Who We Are

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:22:00 +0000

I was probably 11 or 12 years old at the time, comparing what we had in the Gulf to the West. The West had all the cool movies. They had all the cool products. All the cool restaurants. They were the scientists, the nobel prize winners, the countries that hosted the big events, the big money. We could catch a glimpse of their world through a TV screen once in a while when a western show or movie aired, and maybe if we were lucky enough to find one of their magazines in a store, we could flick through and see what they had. It was a bit of a dream world to most of the people living here.

A few years earlier my family had lived in the UK - I would say I primarily grew up in London; arguably the center of the world at the time (either it, or New York). It was a different planet from the Gulf. Everything was available in terms of products, media, events, theme parks, and creations. They were 'developed'. We were still behind. Light years behind.

Back in Bahrain (this was somewhere around the early 1990's), getting your hands on a western toy or comic was quite a feat, and was the sort of achievement you'd take along with you to school to show off to your classmates, much to their ooh's and aah's.

I remember thinking and wondering why the West had so much. Why everything they made was seemingly magical to us, while we didn't even register on their radar ("Where/what is Bahrain" was an almost standard reply when I told people where I was from). I knew the Gulf had to wake up, and move faster, and achieve something. Just something to catch their attention. I wanted to help this region grow and develop, but what can I do as a 12 year old kid with a head full of dreams?

My family travelled considerably after then, back to London, Los Angeles, Paris, and so on. But we were back in Bahrain in 1997, and I was ready to graduate from high school. My original options were somewhere between the UK and the US, but for some reason I ended up going to university in the UAE (long story, ask me later). Dubai was just starting to break out of it's shell at the moment.

My first indication that things were starting to change was around 1999. One of my friends had gone to Australia for a holiday, and when he came back, we discussed the comic book scene there (he was a comic book collector). To my 'shock', he told me comic books were more accessible in Dubai than they were in Australia. But how could that be, I asked myself? Australia was a developed country, wasn't it? They had access to all the media, the products, and so on? But for some reason, we had more access to them in Dubai.

I remember being on an American car forum again around the year 2002, discussing the Skyline GTR (a pretty fast, if a little rare japanese vehicle). Some of the Americans on the forum mentioned hearing about a place called Dubai, being the number one importer (from Japan) and exporter (to the rest of the world) of Skyline GTR's. That was a little shocking; how could these random Americans in the middle of Texas even know about Dubai?

Our region grew and grew from there onwards and these 'moments' became more frequent. I stepped into a taxi in Italy in 2005, and he asked me where I was from; I said Bahrain, knowing very well that he probably would not recognize the country - but he said (in a very stereotypical Italian accent) "Ahhh Bahrain, Formula Uno!" Another was discussing the Abu Dhabi Louvre with some random passer-by in France in 2007. Asking a London travel agent about destinations in 2008, to which she replied, Oman. Talking about the Qatar World Cup in London in 2009. And so on.

And to top it all off, the announcement made just a little over an hour ago, with Dubai winning the right to host the 2020 World Expo. Even before the announcement, I could see tweets and facebook posts from people I know from Lebanon to Los Angeles to Lagos, talking about Dubai. The whole world is looking at us now, the world knows who we are. Although some may see this as the 'importing' of major global events, brands, and trends, what you can see if you look at closer is how we are creating our own as well. The fashion designers, the films, the TV shows. We've built some of the best/biggest airlines in the world, innovative solutions like Masdar and are slowly starting to export what we have to the rest of the world. Who in their right mind would have thought you could walk into the middle of New York and see the Emirates and Al Jazeera logos plastered everywhere, or walk into Harrods in London and grab some Chapati and Karak? And put all that aside for now; people from the West are coming here in hordes trying to get jobs, start businesses, or just explore.

Sure, some Gulf countries were slower to make the transition than others, but the growth is amazing for the region as a whole, and with the right effort we can all benefit from this. We're the cultural and economic heart of the region, and looking further ahead, maybe even the world. We've made it here; the world knows who we are now. And we're about to make waves, lots of them.

Dubai Air Show, an Awakened Gulf, and Bahrain

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:12:00 +0000

I don't regularly blog anymore, and this is going to be a bit of a bittersweet post, but after seeing the amount of power the Gulf has in it's hands after yesterday's Air Show, I figured I have to start screaming somewhere. Might as well be my blog.

Anyhow; yesterday was the first day of the 2013 Dubai Air Show. The behemoth of the airline industry in the GCC is Emirates, which has very casually decided to order $100 billion dollars worth of planes. The notable runners up are Etihad and Qatar Airways, with a combined $50 billion worth of orders.

Now on the surface, and to the uninformed, this seems to be a bunch of rich sheikdoms throwing around their god granted oil money. But look a little deeper; if this was just about money, perhaps Kuwait should be a notable entry, with a higher GDP than either UAE or Qatar. Or, maybe Saudi, with more than double the oil revenue of the next closest competitor. You can't just build a massive airline out of thin air if you had money. Sure, you can start one, but without the right strategies, direction, management and so on, it won't last too long no matter how much money you throw at it.

Back in the 80's, the GCC was made up of a bunch of oil-rich countries with a lot of money and no incentive to use it to build up the country. Emirates Airlines was started by the Dubai ruling family in the mid-80's with an aim to turn Dubai into a regional business hub. With a very focused strategy over the next 20 years, they managed to pave the way for the world to have easy access into the city, and through that (and a very solid growth strategy) expand into a global superstar. As this ridiculous growth caught the eyes of the other sheikdoms around, they wanted in on the global game, and so began the story of the hyper-growth of the GCC.

Of course, some countries raced ahead while others lagged behind. Money played a contributing factor, but some did better with it than others. Look up now, and you'll see cities that people didn't even realize existed 20 years ago are buzzwords on the tongues of tourists, businessmen, politicians and even average citizens, all the way from Seoul to Sao Paulo.

To top it off, at the Air Show yesterday, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Emirates single handedly gave a life-line to Boeing with it's largest ever combined order of $100 billion. And with that kind of money comes power - Sh Ahmed Al Maktoom (Chairman of Emirates Group) turns around and casually says to the West, you give us the landing rights we're asking for (there have been arguments over landing rights for Emirates etc in the West over the past few years), or we're going to cancel these orders.

In other words, you're playing 'our' game now.

All sweet so far, right? The growth of a region, the increase in both economical and political power, the developments within it, and so on. So where's the bitter part?

I look at our tiny little Bahrain, so motivated and always starting new trends being slowly pushed to the side. In fact, they don't even have a noticeable participation in the Air Show; sure I understand we have our own in January and we're probably saving whatever loose change we have to sign deals there, but either way... We started the whole aviation thing in the region. Gulf Air was formed way before any of these other airline, back in the 1940's. And sure, we grew, and eventually Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman all decided to come on board as shareholders.

But I think the turning point was in the 80's - Dubai, back then a little desert village with nothing but huge aspirations, kept requesting more flights through Gulf Air, to which the airline turned around and said, no. Not being one to wait for things to happen, the ruling family of Dubai decided to start their own airline, Emirates, and from then on, it's growth, and with them the growth of Dubai astounded everyone.

To the point where Abu Dhabi and Qatar eventually decided, hey, we should have our own airlines too, and left Gulf Air. That's not necessarily a bad thing for GF - they can grow better with more focus, right? But no, the airline kept tumbling deeper and deeper into losses, corruption and one problem after the other. Oman eventually seceded from the airline, making it a pure Bahraini burden. On a positive note though, I guess we can say the reason Emirates was created, Dubai grew, and following that, the whole GCC ended up growing is because of Bahrain (denying Dubai more flights). Ironically now, Gulf Air's busiest route is to Dubai. Funny how time changes things.

I'm happy for what we've managed to do in the Gulf overall, and how we've managed to literally sit on top of the world through our airlines. But again, looking at Gulf Air's sad decline from being a true Gulf airline to one that is just an after-thought, even in the mind of the average Bahraini traveller, makes me feel a little bitter inside. And this follows through everything else in Bahrain - we start all the trends, we have the first hold on any new idea, but for some reason we fail while everyone around us grows. We're smart, we're motivated, we have so much potential in us, but that's all it remains - just pure potential, with no follow up.

I think it's less of feeling sad and more of feeling let down, or disappointed. We all gave tons and tons to the country, and after all that's happened we see it remain relatively stagnant. Maybe it's just a curse. Or maybe it can be fixed. Or maybe we lost hope. Don't get me wrong; I still love our little island, and that won't ever change, but sadly she just feels like the lazy offspring that ended up not achieving much in life while all it's siblings went on to become CEO's and presidents.

Sleep is my Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 22:36:00 +0000

So here's the deal; I haven't really been sleeping right as of late. I think multiple reasons, including the fact that I don't have any specific reason to be up early in the morning, a little bit of stress, a little bit of A.D.D, and a lot of being disorganized have led to a totally erratic sleeping pattern. Some nights I sleep for 6 hours, some nights I sleep for 12. The only common factor is that I usually end up waking up past noon, which again, is not really that much of a problem considering that running your own business doesn't require early mornings.

Mentally, and socially, it starts getting to you. Waking up late is great when you get to do it on a weekend, or even on a longer holiday (school summer holidays, especially), and you get to re-energize your body. Doing it on a much longer timespan, say, for years in a row, has other effects; studies show that you tend to get lazier overall - check. Studies show that stress levels seem to increase for people who sleep late - check. Studies show that you experience more headaches and body aches in general - check. Studies show that... Well, it continues.

On a social level, i'm up when everyone else is having their afternoon siesta (a Spanish phrase for an Arab habit), and most active when everyone else goes to sleep. Most of the people who I actively communicate with are Twitter and Facebook friends from the US and Europe, who are up when I am, or the few other night-owls from around here.

Well, it's time to put an end to that, I thought. Not to say that I haven't been been trying for a while; I have. It just hasn't been working. I set alarms for 8:00am and 9:00am, only to snooze them or even completely slumber through them. I get to bed early, only to lie down, turn and turn, and run through multiple thoughts spanning everything from the intricate details of how the universe was born, to what i'm having for lunch tomorrow. I end up finally sleeping by 6:00am or 7:00am, only to wake up again an hour or two past noon. There have been a couple of occasions where I ended up sleeping late and waking up early, figuring i'd sleep early that night, but nope. I either crashed by mid-afternoon, or ended up staying up late again, only to be caught back in the vicious circle over and over. Again, this has been going on for weeks and weeks, perhaps months and months. Same result.

Finally, yesterday, I figured I had a chance to fix things; again, I had tried sleeping early, and fell into the same routine of random multiple thoughts, rolling in bed, and generally thinking of things I haven't thought of in years. I eventually slept by 6:00am, but was forced to wake up at 8:00 to go do a number of errands (that I would have been in quite a bit of a pickle had I not finished them then).

So there I was, up early, facing the morning sun, driving around with a emotionless stare, finishing random errands till I was done by 4:00pm. I got back home, and was about to crash on the sofa watching a re-run of Romeo + Juliet (An amazing adaptation if you haven't seen it actually, with the whole story set in a modern day Los Angeles, while retaining the original Shakespearean dialogue. But that's a whole other story). A phone call stopped me from falling asleep, and I ended up having to go collect a couple of items from a friend. Finally home by 9:00pm seemed ideal, and I was exhausted. Finally. My perfect level of exhaustion aligned with the perfect sleeping time. I pictured it; if I slept now, I would be up by 6:00am or 7:00am, feeling great from having slept enough, feeling great from waking up early. I would actually be able to walk outside, and go to where the people have breakfast. I would have breakfast in public while other people were having breakfast. I would be an engaged member of society again. Everything seemed so perfect.

I got ready for bed, set my alarms for 7:00am, and closed my eyes. The last glance at the time told me it was 9:30pm, and from there I sank into my pillow...

I remember conjuring up multiple dreams; I don't remember the exact details, but they were many. Some dreams even had me waking up early, excited about how I was going to spend my morning. Remember, this is not just about waking up early. It was about waking up early, and waking up energized. It was about a routine, and returning to an active lifestyle. It was about less stress, less headaches, and being more healthy. It was a new life.

I abruptly woke up in the middle of the night. How long was I out for? An hour? Two hours? I wasn't going to let this ruin my objective. I didn't even bother checking the time or taking a glance at my phone. I shut my eyes and went back into dream land.

The dreams continued. Again, the details are vague, but I had this one recurring dream where I dreamt that I was sleeping, and I kept waking up to check the time, telling myself I needed a few more hours to wake up at 6:00. Other dreams followed, but this theme persisted.

I woke up again. What has it been, another hour or two? Didn't check the time, didn't check my phone, didn't do anything. Eyes shut. Dreamland.

This happened a few times; dreams, followed by me waking up, wondering how many hours I was out for, and going back to sleep. When I woke up for the fifth time, it was still dark outside. I closed my eyes again, but this time I couldn't sleep. My body had seemingly gotten enough rest, and was telling me to get up. My mind started running off into multiple thoughts, including trying to figure out if I was good to wake up or if I should sleep some more. I focused on that. If I had slept an average of one or two hours per session, I thought, with a total of five sessions, then I had probably slept somewhere between 6 and 7 hours. Maybe 8. I originally slept at 9:30. So now it should realistically be somewhere around 4:00 or 5:00am, maybe even 6:00 if i'm lucky. The sun should be coming up any minute now. That's fine, I can deal with that. I can wake up, try to do some early morning exercise, take a nice long shower, and go about my day. Yes. This would be perfect. This is ideal. Finally. Today. The first day of the rest of my life. I grabbed my phone, pressed a button and looked at the time.

It was 12:10am.

Crap.

Err..

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:39:00 +0000

4 posts ago (back in January), I mentioned my new year's resolution was to update this blog. That obviously didn't work. Oh well.

Happy New Year 2013 everyone!

Buy Snickers get Free Gas

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:37:00 +0000

Saudi has a lot of oil. A lotttt of oil. Tons. To put a figure, approximately 270 billion barrels, give or take a few billion. A fifth of the World's proven reserves. Do you have any idea how much that is?

Let's try to put things in perspective. If you were to live to 100, that means you're living a total of 36,500 days, or a total of 876,000 hours. At today's crude oil price, a barrel is somewhere in the range of just over $100, so (assuming nothing changes) if Saudi pumped 300,000 barrels ($30 million worth) for every hour you live, they'd still have enough left over to make another trillion dollars after you died.

That's a lot of oil.

Now, with that type of income potential, the Saudis can do practically anything they want. So what do they do? They give some away free with every bar of Snickers.

What?

Yup. This shot of a Snickers ad was taken by @FahadKD on Twitter, who is, funnily enough, a corporate advisor in the Energy sector. It's a new, actual campaign in Saudi, where you get one litre of gas for every Snickers bar you buy.

The campaign has already been launched, and it's all over Saudi at the moment, but it does raise a number of questions. Okay, we understand oil is subsidized in Saudi; in fact, it's one of the cheapest places in the world to buy gas at the pump, where filling the average car up rarely passes the 50 riyal mark ($14). However, how justified is it that a corporation can use subsidized gas in it's campaign to sell of a candy bar? Are we just throwing our gas away? Sure, 270 billion barrels isn't going to finish overnight, but that doesn't justify just giving it away, or does it? Do we just have so much oil that we don't know what to do with it?

Whatever the thinking behind it, we'll see what the local papers have to say about this over the next few days. For now, i'm going to grab a Snickers.

Saudi & the Cinema

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:16:00 +0000

Depending on which part of the world you are visiting this blog from, you may or may not know this; Saudi Arabia has no cinemas. Nope, none at all. They're illegal, banned, immoral, haram, shaitan. What the reasons are behind them not being allowed really don't make sense to me, but then neither do a lot of Saudi laws.

My best guess on why cinemas aren't allowed is that they would they would encourage mixing of sexes, although that could probably be solved through separate seating. The other reason is the content being shown, although to me that doesn't make much sense since pretty much every household has access to both Satellite TV and internet. Also, you could always censor certain scenes (or depending on the movie, whole parts). We're pretty used to censoring scenes in Bahrain & UAE; I don't really mind if it's a pretty upfront sex scene, but sometimes they seem to cut random things out of the movie leaving you with a 'WTF just happened there' moment.

Whatever the reasons behind it, it's pretty clear that going to the cinema has become a bit of a tourist attraction for Saudis whenever they leave the country (that would explain the sharp increases in ticket sales on Wednesday and Thursday nights in Bahrain). Statistics (verified or not, I don't really know, but these were compiled by Saudi) show that a quarter of a million people visited UAE in 2010 JUST to go to the cinema. Pretty hefty number just for movies.

Recently, the Saudi Ministry of Culture & Information has made an announcement, saying it is ready to support the opening of cinemas in the country, as long as the government approves and gives the go-ahead. The Mayor of Riyadh also recently mentioned they are in the process of setting up cinemas in the country. Put it all together and it seems fairly likely that Saudi will finally have cinemas, and pretty soon.

Woohoow Saudi, finally turning into a country of sin.

Iran, Why So Serious?

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Iran's getting a little feisty. It's not really something new; they seem to enjoy unnerving the USA (and the rest of the world) randomly every now and then. Is this time a little more serious though?

If you're not keeping up with the news (and let's face it, most of the world seems to be involved in something else at the moment, whether it's Kim Kardashian's new TV show or trying to find a job in a still unrecovered global economy); due to their belief that Iran is producing nuclear weapons, the US wants to impose sanctions on Iranian crude oil, and stop anyone from around the world buying it. In simple layman terms, that means no massive global income for Iran.

Iran turns around and says, you want to screw me up the backside? Sure, impose those sanctions, and i'll block the Strait of Hormuz (the little bit of water in the gulf where all the UAE/Saudi/Kuwait/Bahrain/Qatar oil gets exported to the world). Essentially, that means blocking off 20% of the world's oil supply. Essentially, that means a pretty steep increase in global oil supplies. Essentially, that means re-triggering another global recession for a world that still hasn't recovered from the previous one yet.

There's a lot of other noise in the equation, from the Iranians capturing a supposed spy drone in their airspace last month, to capturing and sentencing an ex-marine US citizen to death over the past few days. Add to that the fact that the US, UK and allies aren't really jumping in joy about the thought of another recession, and have started deploying their troops to the region (everywhere from Israel, regional bases, and to the waters around the area), as well as sold the GCC a cool trillion dollars worth of Jet Fighters, and the equation doesn't sound too good.

Of course, for all we know, Iran could be playing psychological games. This isn't the first time they've threatened and raised the stakes to the point of explosion, just to turn around last minute and say "Helloooo guys juuuust kiddding!" (imagine a strong Iranian accent and it sounds more fun) and hug it all out. I'm pretty sure they know the US can't really afford to go to war right now (internally the country is kinda screwy, even US army/marine bases are suffering from budget cuts), so maybe they're just playing a high-stake game of chicken.

Either way, for the uninformed, this has been going on for the past two weeks, and troops on both sides have started deploying over the past couple of days in serious numbers. Let's hope Ahmedinejad is going to turn around and make an announcement with his big cheesy smile and say "Hey guys, we're just kidding, why so serious?"

Iranians. Funny people. (I hope).

I really need to...

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:55:00 +0000

...update this blog. Okay, 5 days into 2012, there's my resolution. Update this blog. Okay. Here we go.

Bokra - Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:38:00 +0000

It's been a good 3 weeks since this project was released to the world. I don't think anyone even remembers it anymore.

Click here if you can't see the video

Wow, 24 leading Arab superstars on one collaboration. Akon and Shakira also collaborating on the track. Quincy Jones. Backing by some of the biggest names in the region, including names from the Qatar Govt, Dubai Media City, Sony Music, and a ton more. An initiative to raise money and funds to support talent and content from this region. What a load of crap that final product came out to be.

Now don't get me wrong. Concept wise, this whole thing was AMAZING. Just the sound of it and the potential it had to be was beautiful. I heard about it from some reps at one of the major music labels a few weeks before it came out, and figured this would be something that would blow everyone away. It would talk from the Arab world not just back to the Arab World, but to the whole World.

Sadly, so far I haven't heard anything positive about it. I caught a glimpse of it on MBC a couple of weeks ago, and thought to myself, that was IT? All that talent, all that positive energy, went into that? Again, don't get me wrong; i'm not a hater. I love to see these sort of initiatives, anything that can propel our region to another level on the global playing field. Having all those superstars on one track is an amazing feat. Quincy Jones alone is more than just a legend. The message was strong and clear, to come together to bring a better tomorrow. The production levels put into this were obviously world class. But somewhere along the line, the potential collapsed.

I don't know how to start with where things went wrong; is it with the very standard melody and beat? Sure it has different tunes from different Arabic styles & instruments every now and then, but that was hardly something on the level of a legend such as Quincy. And the lyrics? Average to say the least. It doesn't really speak to me, or to the Arab world. FINE. Let's say the music wasn't great, they should back it up with an amazing video that speaks to the people, right? Wrong. The video is just a few seconds of each artist in the recording studio, and a bunch of children running around various places in Doha. There are a few joyous moments, but those are limited in seconds.

Also, the Akon part just stands out, in a funny way. I know you wanted to add another major superstar here, but it just looks out of place. The Shakira intro I can understand, maybe he should have put in his own intro instead?

If the video was meant to speak to the people, then it would show something the average viewer would relate to; maybe peoples faces from around the region. It could show some happy, some sad, some in pain, some working for a better tomorrow. Maybe some of the scenes of the events of the past few months; not necessarily the violent and painful parts, maybe just showing people from all over, gathering together in unity. Your average person from the street can't really relate to a number of superstars dancing around in a studio. Let me not even comment on the errors in the video where the singing isn't properly synced with the audio (sure, it happens in many videos, but at that level of production, it's unacceptable).

I understand the video is trying to stay away from the politics, which is understandable. But again, Tamer Hosni? I'm sorry, but you just alienated 80 million Egyptians who were anti-Mubarak by featuring him in the track; did we all forget what happened back in Febraury? Egypt alone has 3 million (or so it feels like) musicians, was this really the best choice? Who made the decision on artists again?

And finally, the PR for the whole track, trying to hype it up. The headline message wasn't "A track pushing for a better tomorrow in the Arab World" or "A song calling for unity and togetherness". Nope. The headlines were almost always "24 MAJOR ARAB SUPERSTARS ALONG WITH QUINCY JONES AND AKON ON ONE TRACK". That's just a mirror of the whole crumpling music industry nowadays. They're trying to sell you the hype you don't want. I love Qunicy and his art, I have a ton of respect for most of the artists on the track (especially Kadhem Alsaher, dude is all class, even here he still shines as probably the best performer). But you won't get me hyped up on a track just because they're all on it. It's the digital age, the music is everywhere, the videos are everywhere, and the average person can get them any time. People aren't even watching the VMA's and EMA's even though there's a million and one celebrities on. You can't hype a track by saying so and so is on it. You have to make a song move emotions in people. You have to make good music, you have to make a great video. That's what the 'old-school' music industry doesn't understand, you can't sell hype anymore. If people want hype, they'll visit the YouTube channel, and no one ends up buying your music (explains 2 million hits on the video today and probably hardly anything sold).

I honestly have no idea what the actual message for this is. What is it meant to be; re-unite after the revolutions around the Arab world? Come together and build? Everybody calm down after what we've all been through? I'm not even sure. There's no real clear message.

The track makes me reminisce to 'Arab Dream' (الحلم العربي). That was done in the 90's; video is hardly of the greatest quality, editing is far from great, but that video and song can bring tears to your eyes. It still has the footage of performers in the studio, it still has that all-star ensemble, but the emotion comes through, it doesn't appear cocky, and it talks about our pain and struggles, the wars we've been exposed to that are still fresh in memory, and our dream to unite & move forward. Besides the studio shots, the video is powerful, and includes footage taken in the 80's and early 90's. We're in 2011; the amount of footage out there is astounding, it shouldn't be difficult to find something that speaks to people and doesn't trip over the politics. I would buy this track 10 times over just for what it is, and wouldn't even consider putting a cent towards the Bokra track.

Click here if you cannot see the video

Just another point; they're selling this track on iTunes? Whereas iTunes isn't officially available for more than half of the Arab countries (unless they have a US, European or credit card from a verified country)? Even if people did want to buy the track, you're not making it easy for them. Well done. Clap clap.

I really wanted this to make an impact, if anything, the Arab world needs something to push them forward through the multiple crises. We need to know there is hope and that everything will be fine. For all I can see, Bokra hasn't come close to achieving this, and it's a little depressing to be honest. Music was the way to speak to the masses, and with the way the industry is headed nowadays I don't know what it can achieve any more.

Go to www.TomorrowBokra.org for the track website, video, initiative etc.

(I know i'm probably going to get a wave of hate for not being supportive of the cause and so on. I actually went out and bought the track, not for the song itself but in support of the cause only. I know it was a good-willed initiative, but the whole thing was badly managed & executed, and on that grand level, is a total failure).

Who Sain

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:20:00 +0000

Just finished filming and editing this music video - Sain is an Emirati rapper who just burst onto the scene; we tried to do a little something different with this one. Forget the regular girls, cars and money in your average rap videos, this takes you into the mind of someone 'inSain'. We put a few hidden messages in this one, see if you can figure any out. Enjoy.

For more info check out www.OfficialSain.com

Track: Who's Sain, Artist: Sain, Beat By: Megrov, Produced by: Co-Sign
Video shot & directed by: ammaro productions

The Reality of the Libyan War

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:48:00 +0000

Biggest news today was the death of Gaddafi. I won't ramble on too much about his capture, the irony of how he called his people "rats" and was found hiding in a sewage pipe, or how he went from being one of the most powerful people on the planet to being slapped around and dragged like a rotten nobody minutes before his death.

No. Although today a lot of the world rejoices for Libya, I don't think most of us actually understand what the country has been through. Yes, a war, but the unbelievable images that have sprung up over the past few months tell a story of something incredibly scary. The majority of us have never experienced an actual war, and even if so, mostly on the 'lighter' side of things.

I've put together a series of shocking images that have been taken since the uprising started. We've been desensitized to this sort of imagery through movies, TV shows, cartoons and video games, and usually dismiss & forget about them minutes after we see them. Don't glance at them for a second each and scroll to the next; I want you to really look at them. Try and see what's going on there. Try to visualise yourself in those situations. They may look like something out of a 'Book of Eli' or some other post-apocalyptic movie, but remember that what you're looking at here is real, with no director sitting behind the camera shouting "Cut"!

We get too comfortable in our own lives and don't mentally accept what happens on the other side of the TV screen as 'real'. It feels too far away from us. That's usually why not enough support is gained for causes and catastrophes around the world, whether they're to protest against a war in Syria, raise funds to help a famine in Somalia, or any other cause; sure some may gather in protest/a fundraiser and go home thinking they did their part for the day. If we could see that this is all very real, we may think differently.

I didn't add any captions to the photos; they're not necessary, most images explain themselves. Just 'really' look at them (click for large size).

(PS. I didn't take any of these photos, just in case you were wondering, they're from various reporters and sites).

Elevator Drama

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:42:00 +0000

This story is hardly relevant to anything right now, but I just remembered it; happened a good 10 years ago or so. Enjoy.

So I had recently graduated from university and was running around applying for jobs. One of the buildings I went to was about 20 floors high, and one of the companies I was applying to was on the top floor. Went up, all formal with my suit & tie, carrying a bunch of CV's, gave one in, filled out an application form, went back to the lift, and clicked the button for the ground floor.

20..

19...

18....

*DING!*

The lift stopped, doors opened, and two construction workers stepped in. Now I don't really know how to properly describe what these two smelt like; it was a hot summer day (probably around 45 degrees or so - that's around 115 for all you Americans) and it felt like they've been working for the past 8 hours under the burning sun, sweating from every pore, and it was pretty overwhelming. Don't get me wrong; I appreciate the job they do, but goddamn that was a strong stench. It felt like someone took some warm kebabs, covered them in Hummus, left them under the bed for 3 weeks, took them back out and then took a dump on them, then sprinkled them with rotten eggs.

Luckily for me they pressed 16, so I only had to suffer the pain for two floors. It was a long ride till the 16th floor though...

18............

18.......................................................................................................................................................................................

17.......................................................................................................................................................................................

16 *DING!* and they left *HEAVY BREATHING*

Still, the smell was so strong and powerful that it had somehow stuck to the walls of the elevator. The place was still hazardous. Ok no problemo, I can probably hold my breath for another 16 floors.

15...

14...

13...

12...

*DING!*

And there, infront of me, the door opened to reveal the two most gorgeous girls I had ever seen in my life till that point. EVERYTHING about them was perfect, the hair, the eyes, their clothes, it was almost like something out of a movie. This was my lucky day.

They took one step into the lift, and then, apparently hit by the strong chemical waste scent, stopped, stepped back out and held their noses, looked at each other and giggled.

I was mortified; how on earth could I fix this? They obviously thought it was me, but I had to think fast, I had to explain, what do I say, It wasn't me? Some body went into the lift before me? Two construction workers walked in and ended up shadowing the lift with that evil scent? No? How do you even begin explaining this?!

In those few seconds from the girls stepping back out and laughing at me, till the moment the elevator door closed, I realized there was literally nothing I could say to save the situation. I just went quiet, and bowed my head down in shame.

I don't know what brought this memory back to mind, but hey, if you are a girl and remember seeing a (handsome) guy in a lift about 10 years ago, and the lift smelt bad, just know that it wasn't him. Sigh. There's a contact form at the top of this page too *ahem*

Why guys don't buy clothes.

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:35:00 +0000

It's been a while since i've blogged; with Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the multitude of instant messaging tools, saying anything longer than a sentence and a half is usually overkill. Not today though, since this kind of ticks me off.

Not to sound very stereotypical, but girls in general love to shop for clothes (don't deny it, you know it's true). I won't say every single girl out there does, but for a very big handful, that's pretty true. Clothes, accessories, make up, shoes, bags (I don't understand why so many shoes or bags are needed) etc etc etc, bla bla bla.

Why don't guys (in general) buy as many clothes? I originally thought it was something in the chromosomes that make women just want to go out there and spend, but that's not it. Apparently society 'accustoms' us to not buy clothes. Have you walked into an average clothes shop recently? Have you seen how big the ladies section is as compared to the guys? It's ridiculous. You walk into the store, and it's pretty much all ladies clothes; even if I wanted to buy something, that kind of puts me off. They have 99% of the store and we have around one shelf. In the far corner. Hidden somewhere behind the ladies lingerie section which makes it even more awkward for us.

Anyway, for those of you in Bahrain, remember when City Center first opened a couple of years back? They had a huge H&M store with a sign saying "Opening Soon". Knowing H&M from UK etc, they're great for casual clothing, even for guys. And then they opened. Take a look:

That's a pretty big entrance + window. The shop inside is about three time as long and is much wider than the store-front. This was pretty much my train of thought over the two minutes after walking in:

"This place is big."

"Hmm. Girls clothes. Okay must be a guys section over there."

"Nope, ok maybe in that side."

"Oh wait I think I see it in the back."

"Oh, no, that's just the kids section. Lemme see, over there maybe?"

"Nope."

And just like that, guys were denied the pleasure of shopping at H&M. Don't get me wrong, i'm not an H&M freak or anything, but it would be nice to be given at least one shelf. Anyway..

A few months later, another store in City Center put up a big sign: "H&M Men's Opening Soon" and men all over the country rejoiced (well not really, since we don't really care much for shopping, but hey, another shop).

When H&M Men opened, I went over. From the face of it, it was a little disappointing; the entrance of the women's shop alone was about the width of our entrance & display windows combined:

Doesn't matter, at least we HAVE a shop now. Took a walk inside, and the whole thing was approximately one third the size of the women's store. Hmm. Okay won't complain.

A few months later, I walk into H&M Men and realized something looked different. Either men's fashion had become incredibly female-like, or something happened to the store. Then I realized, they decided to shrink the men section to half the store. Yup. Women already have their massive gigantic sized store but that's obviously not enough. They had to take half of ours.

Okay, FINE. We still have a reasonable selection to choose from.

But a few weeks ago, I walked into H&M Men's again. And guess what. ALL the clothes were for women. What? Where's our clothes? Then I realized. Our section was pushed all the way to the back, to occupy about a quarter of the store:

What is this, a joke?

Come on guys, there is obvious discrimination against guys buying clothes. It's not like we don't WANT to buy clothes. It's that even if we did, you make us go through miles and miles of ladies sections to actually reach our tiny little corner. I feel like I want to stand up for my rights. The right to choose whether I want more than 2 colors of the same shirt. More than the same style of jeans. Maybe I should gather up all the guys and start a protest, against all the evil shops that discriminate against us. We do represent half of society, you know. Without us you would be broke. Girls wouldn't need to dress up for us, and then when you're losing business or bankrupt, don't come over to us telling us you're going to make more guys jackets. It's too late then. It's too late.

Ah screw it. I'll just go buy another gadget.

Arab World Unite

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:51:00 +0000

We've been working on this one for quite a while now; 8 different artists from around the Arab world on one track, talking about Arab Unity. It's been one hell of a project to get up and running, and it's all set now - check it out:

(If you're reading this through Facebook the video may not show; click here to go to the video directly)

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"Arab World Unite" is a major call for UNITY.. Featuring Qusai from Saudi, Rush from Egypt, Balti from Tunisia, Ayzee from Saudi, Vico from Lebanon, Flipp from Bahrain, Murder Eyez from Syria, Timz from Iraq & Talal from Palestine.

Track produced by DJ Outlaw in collaboration with 2seas Records
Mixed and Mastered by: Adrian Augustin
Video Edited by: Ammaro Productions - www.ammaro.com
Colour Correction by: Frankie N. Films

Big Thanks goes to:

Universal Legends, Jeddah Fam, Run Junction, Hatem Abu Sitta, Ron Najor, Alvin Shamoun, Samir Cuhtait, Militia Mind Music, Mohammed Mohsen, Magdy Sharshafji, Big Change Recordz, Go Productions, Infinity ways, Shams.K, Ilyes.S

And whoever helped making this project a success.

Click here to download the MP3

Updates n Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:47:00 +0000

I know it's been pretty quiet around here. I've been working working on a full website re-design which should be up pretty soon, a few projects which should see the lights pretty soon, and a bunch of new video work (short movies, music videos) which should be pretty wild. For now you can keep up with my random blabber on Twitter. Stay tuned!

Super Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:28:00 +0000

So apparently the moon tonight is closer to earth and brighter than it has been in 18 years. Took some photos; whoa, that's a big moon (click for large size).

Let's hope it brings hope and peace for the whole world. Doesn't seem likely given the state of the planet at the moment, but hey, worth a try.

Taken with a Canon 7D and 70-300mm lens, 1/15 at F45, ISO100. For more info on 'Super Moon, click here.

Crusin' Manama 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 05:07:00 +0000

Got a nice little camera car mount and came up with this. Nothing overly special, literally just a video of a cruise around Manama from day till night around the main hotspots. See what you recognize.

(if you're viewing this from facebook, the video won't show; go to the direct youtube link to watch it)

The MGM Lion

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:48:00 +0000

We've all seen it somewhere or the other; the lion that roars in a ring just before any MGM movie or cartoon. Did you ever think, how did they actually film it? First, a quick view of the lion just to refresh your memory (if you're viewing this post from Facebook it won't show, please click through to the actual post):

And here's a photo I just found of the actual filming back in the 1920's. This is totally badass, and I must say, those two guys have more balls than I ever will. Great stuff:

0_o

New MJ Album out now

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:13:00 +0000

A bit of shameless plug, but you know you all love MJ. Get his new album hours before the rest of the world on www.UrFilez.com now!

Qatar 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:08:00 +0000

Yes, it's official and was announced just minutes ago by Fifa! After stressful days and weeks of pushing together to make this happen, the five contenders left to bid on the 2022 World Cup were the USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Qatar.

A country that wasn't independent 40 years ago, and hardly anyone had heard of until a few years back was now a contender to some of the World's most powerful/biggest nations? What is this Qatar they speak of? No one knew Qatar. In fact, Qatar was portrayed in the major Hollywood blockbuster, Transformers, as a desert where Bedouins live in tiny broken houses, and store their phones in locked boxes. What is Qatar, really?

A small country with big aspirations. With a vision. With a dream. And with enough cash surplus to take over the World; within the past few years it's gone from a little known nation in the Middle East, to having the highest income per capita, to building universities and schools, to being a mediator of peace in the Middle East, and much more. And the legacy grows.

And then the bid presentation came in, and Qatar displayed with elegance, with class, with vision, and blew everyone's minds away. Was that the really the Qatar we would know 12 years from now?

Dubai was a little known town back in the 1990's. It now sits in as one of the most well known spots in the World, and it did that in just over a decade. Qatar has a plan, and is chasing it, and will probably do what Dubai did in less time, if the work of the past 3 years is anything to judge by.

And then the day of the 2022 decision came, and people were on their toes. Millions around the World gathered to watch the announcement; this wasn't just for Qatar. This was for the GCC. This was for the Middle East. This was for all the Arabs. And as the envelope with the decision was slowly opened, you could feel the tension rip through everyone.. Until it was announced.. The 2022 World Cup will be held in...

Tension. So sharp you could cut someone's throat with it...

...QATAR! And millions rejoiced, some shouted, some cried, some laughed.. And for the first time, the World Cup was brought to the Middle East...

And the rest, is to be for the history books...

HH Shk Moza Speech:

Qatar 2022 World Cup Video:

Link to the full Bid Presentation (35 minutes long, but worth watching)

Dubai Terminal 2, whoa

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:06:00 +0000

So this was interesting.

I flew into Abu Dhabi a couple of days ago for some meetings, and drove down to Dubai for a few unscheduled ones. Not being sure what my exact plans were and when my meetings would be, I left my return flight open. Anyhow; finished everything I needed to do and took a cab over to Dubai Airport.

As it goes, I asked the cab to head to Terminal 1. Pretty much everyone that I know has only had to deal with Terminal 1; we didn't even know where that second terminal was, and the only thing that gave proof of it's existence was a couple of signs on the main road saying "Terminal 2". I mean, even last year, the airport was expanded through the building of the super-massive Terminal 3. After you go through passport control, you can actually walk from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. But where is Terminal 2? No one knows.

So as it goes, I walked into Terminal 1 and asked for a the next available flight to Bahrain, on whatever airline was available. The information desk mentioned FlyDubai had a flight in about 90 minutes. "Great stuff, where can I get a ticket?" and this is where I was directed to head to Terminal 2.

Now even though i've never physically been there, I figured Terminal 2 was a couple of minutes away, considering Terminal 3 is less than a few mins away. Took a cab, asked for Terminal 2, and the guy kept driving. Driving. Driving. We got on the main road, and he kept going.

I said, "Umm, I meant DUBAI Terminal 2 by the way, not some other random airport" to the taxi driver, who explained to me it was almost 25 minutes away.

Huh? Okay then...

Just under half an hour later, we got to Terminal 2 and I rushed to the FlyDubai counter to get my ticket, and ran to make it just in time before check-in closed. Passed immigration control, and this is pretty much when I started to notice weird things. Well honestly, they were quite amusing at first till I figured out what was actually going on;

First thing I actually noticed was the Indian traveler loading his bags into the scanner; this was the one he was to carry with him on the plane. It was a big see-through plastic bag, filled with a large piece of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, some other vegetables, and what appeared to be some very random items of clothing. I mean, you'd usually expect to see people putting the weirdest items into cargo, rather than take them as carry-on's, but whatever.

Getting in to the waiting area, everything seemed normal; the regular Duty Free shops, your standard Costa Cafe, etc. But then there was a police officer walking by with two tall black males in handcuffs. There was also a long line of South Asian immigrant, who wouldn't look too out of place in that 'Slumdog Millionaire' movie, with the rags they were dressed in and their luggage, all carried in either huge plastic bags, or cardboard boxes. Then a group of African guys who looked like they could be warlords from Somalia or Congo (minus the guns). And then some Al-Qaeda looking characters. On top of that, to totally break the scenery, a group of three tall white Americans, dressed in what looked like as kevlar body armor; obviously some sort of soldiers.

When you see one or two of these sorts of characters in any given place, you don't really think about it too much. Stopping to see every shady character stereotype from the region in one place, however, makes you stop and think. Where am I again?

This definitely wasn't your typical airport; the background and scenery looked normal, but then, there weren't any of those familar businessmen in their suits on their laptops. I didn't see the typical tanned European tourist in bermuda shorts and slippers. None of your ordinary, average-joe type travelers, no. They were all hijacked and replaced with what seemed to be the damned of the Earth. Take the poorest of India, Afghanistan's most wanted, and the warlords of Africa, and add in some Amercian mercenaries. Put them in one place, and you've got the makings of Terminal 2. Besides the new FlyDubai, all other airlines were ones i've never heard of, and most destinations were totally unfamiliar territory:

Geshm, Kish, Arlanda, Abadan. Where are these places? Apparently my geography wasn't as good as I thought it was. I found my gate on FlyDubai - the people here seemed a little more normal-looking; and I did a bit of a search on the terminal. Turns out this place was built for flights to the 'worst' destinations in the region; stuff that you wouldn't really want to mix in with the glamor of Dubai's Terminal 1 and 3. Many flights go out to Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran. You have Head hunters, American soldiers and mercenaries. You have the Slumdog Millionaire and Hotel Rwanda movies cast right out infront of you. All of this together is pretty good reason Dubai Airport (well, Terminal 2 specifically) was labeled "the most dangerous airport in the World". Definitely the makings of a movie here.

It's not hard to see why FlyDubai decided to base their HQ here; they are a budget airline, and i'm guessing Dubai airport doesn't charge a whole lot in comparison to the glamorous T1 & T3. I guess that has partly had something to do with the full renovation of the Terminal last year, and in comparison it doesn't look bad at all, less the passengers. Further readings show that this place was a total mess before-hand. Now, it looks nice and glossy at first, until you see who you're surrounded with; a bit of an oxymoron, kind of like the city of Dubai itself. I wish I could have seen this place a few years back; might have been a lot more 'authentic'. I don't think I would have been surprised to see passengers carrying chickens in with them. Actually considering all I saw yesterday, I don't think that would have looked too out of place.

This definitely warrants another visit back. If just to take photos, at least.

Not an actual pic from the airport, but it felt like it kinda looked like this
-------------

If the concept got you interested, here's a few more posts I found on Terminal 2:

Sophie's World

Foto8

Greg Lindsay

ammaro Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Just because its ur right to be stupid doesnt mean u should be. - "ammaro"

The first in a series of #ammarowisdom thingies. With Twitter compressing everything we need to say into under 140 characters, the whole concept of blogging seems partially irrelevant at times. That isn't to say I won't be 'blogging' per se, just not doing as much of it (as has been obvious from my off and on posts over the past few months). For those that don't follow me on Twitter, i'm @ammar456.

On another note, i'll be revamping the whole site; this will turn into the hub for ammaro productions, mainly covering video, music, events etc. The blog will stay embedded on the right side of the page though (or left side, who knows, I haven't thought of a design yet).

On a final note, get ready for a big new project coming out next weekend; watch on this space.

Music Video: Flipp - Hold Up

noreply@blogger.com (Ammaro) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:14:00 +0000

Just finished work on the music video for Flipp's Hold Up; it's been a lot of work putting this whole thing together, but we got it down, repping Bahraini talent & repping our island! Check it out (click the video and go direct to YouTube and click 720 to view the whole thing in HD rather than the small res here on the page)

If you're reading this post direct from Facebook or some other feed and the video isn't showing up, the direct link for it is http://youtu.be/o4iBqToib28