No parking here Range !

aha ! These two cannot exist together !

The bulky metal structures on the sidewalks scream: do-not-park-here.

Yet, these Range Rovers didn't seem to understand what they were, and totally disregarded them on Tabaris Square this afternoon by parking there. Perhaps authorities should seek alternative additional signage and write : NO PARKING on them just like this person who wrote on the One way street sign ?

Save me a seat !

This "save-a-parking-spot" is a common phenomenon in very crowded Beiruti areas, where parking spots have become rare and precious. People save each spots by placing whatever they have in front of their shops: chairs, cardboard boxes, etc... But today was too funny not to document: three spots saved in a row, on Chouf street.




Sometimes it lasts 5mn, sometimes more than half an hour.. Until the shop owner arrives and parks right in front of his shop. Red stool saves a parking spot for the red car.

Anger brings redundancy: A funny Beiruti street intervention

I would really like to know who wrote this !
This sign on Sassine square in Beirut, has Arabic written on it: "one way street".
This person hilariously thought that people must be more familiar with words than with road signs, or he might be simply expressing his anger by redundantly underlining the obvious to make people respect it more !

Crazy electric chairs

I was recently browsing the internet for electric chairs and capital punishment imagery for the posterfortomorrow competition. The theme was death is not justice, you can view my entry below.

To my surprise, the electric chair became so common it entered fashion and is reproduced in toys! Capital punishment violates the most basic human right. How will the kids understand this concept if they play with a lego executioner ?

Politics-free shop in Bekfayah

The sign reads: Dearest customers, please don't talk about politics in the shop.

It seems like this shop owner in Bekfayah knows exactly how long Lebanese people will argue in politics, and chose his peace of mind by asking his customers to leave their political views at the door !

Squeeze it in !

What do you do when you have a big car and can't find parking space ?

Plagiarism.org

Librairie Sayah in Batroun (North Lebanon) found it appropriate to steal the logo of the Lebanese newspaper "An Nahar" and make it its own !

No two ways about it !

This minute-long video resumes a 15mn long scene I was lucky to witness: a one way street, two stubborn drivers, only one of them for a good cause.

Refusing to let the car go the wrong way down this street, the driver didn't move until everything was back in order !

He/or she even got a round of applause when the goal was accomplished !

Enjoy your green space

One of the things i feel most frustrated about in Beirut is the lack of green spaces. The urban planning of the city includes very little accommodation of public green spaces where you can relax and chill.

I especially felt this lack after living in Paris for a while. So when the time came, Nadine Feghaly and I collaborated on this public intervention to express our disagreement with the lack of the "urban-green" !

The public intervention was up since 6am this morning, on friday june 4th 2010, for World's Environment Day. In 9 spots around Beirut, the installations shout our call for change.

Check it out for yourself ! Here's a map of the 9 spots in Beirut.

The insides are outside: Etapes and Wad

It's interesting to note that both spring issues of the french magazines Etapes and Wad chose to display the inside of a human body on their covers!

While one is a painting of a female and the other is a photograph of a male body; still in spring, the insides are outside !

Lebanese elections v/s Traffic rules

The elections are apparently more important than traffic rules !

It's fair, more than 50% of the sign is still visible !

Lebanese Laique Pride

She might be little aware of the importance of the message she's holding at the moment, but she will grow into it and learn how to embrace it and fight for it.

At the Laique Pride march on sunday April 25th 2010, this little girl represented hope !