لكن رح نرجع? Are We Going Back?

On this, the 37th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese War, I am haunted by an old Fairuz song, "Rej'et El Aasfoura"... Haunted with a distant and detached sense of nostalgia, the way one misses a loved one years after their passing: with remembrance, but not much pain. I'm haunted by this song, not with cynicism--strangely enough--but with much skepticism. Years after the War had started and ended, and the wars after it have started and ended, do I still believe in the "True Lebanon"? And do I still believe that it's coming? Like the millions of Lebanese living outside of Lebanon--far more than those living inside it--I have made a choice, and the choice is essentially a skeptical one: I don't believe in this "Great Country". And yet, this country is part of me, and I part of it, whether I like it or not. Like one coming to terms with a deeply flawed parent, I have come to peace with this country; may it rest in peace...

Letters to Beirut from Friends Worldwide

To Beirut with Love, is a worldwide cultural project in a format of a huge artistic book or installation made out of your letters and envelops sent to Beirut, World Capital of the Book.
Write or draw something about what you feel, think or imagine about Beirut.

Send it to:
To Beirut with Love
c/o Ginane Bacho
P.O.Box:14-6086
Beirut, Lebanon.

For more information, visit the Facebook Event for the project at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ical/event.php?eid=265613452499

إلى بيروت مع الحب ، مشروع ثقافي في جميع أنحاء العالم في شكل كتاب أو تركيب فني ضخم مصنوع من مغلفات رسائل الخاصة بكم و التي ترسلوها إلى بيروت ، عاصمة للكتاب.
للإشتراك الرجاء كتابة أو رسم شيء حول ما تشعر به أو ما تتخيله عندما نفكر في بيروت ، و أرسل إلى:

إلى بيروت مع الحب
# جنان باشو
صندوق. بريد 14-6086 ،
بيروت ، لبنان.

للمزيد من المعلومات، الرجاء زيارة صفحة الحدث للمشروع على فيسبوك عند
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ical/event.php?eid=265613452499

Beirut is No.1!

The New York Times has voted Beirut the No.1 place to go in 2009!


In a feature called "The 44 Places to Go in 2009", Beirut was first according to both the NY Times recommendations as well as reader recommendations. "From the Aegean Sea to Zambia, this year’s most compelling destinations are awash in sublime landscapes, cutting-edge art, gala music festivals, and stylish new resorts. To vote for your favorites, click 'recommend'." So make sure you keep Beirut No. 1 by casting your vote!


And make sure to check out the NY Times' Lebanon Travel Guide!

Despair, Inc.

(No comment)

Assassinations

Feb 2005: Ex-PM Rafik Hariri

April 2005: MP Bassel Fleihan

June 2005: Anti-Syria journalist Samir Kassir

June 2005: Ex-Communist leader George Hawi

Dec 2005: Anti-Syria MP Gebran Tueni

Nov 2006: Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel

June 2007: Anti-Syria MP Walid Eido

Sep 2007: Anti-Syria MP Antoine Ghanim

Dec 2007: Army Gen Francois al-Hajj

Jan 2008: Police investigator Wissam Eid

Sep 2008: Pro-Syria MP Saleh Aridi

Provided by BBC

Ahlan wa sahlan

Hi again, looks like it is back to a pretty solitary experience here at LBF. That's cool in a way. We can revamp a bit and think about ways to improve the site. I had to get some kind of header.jpg up here because it was just too much to see things in such disrepair. So, a minor temporary fix until we can figure out what's next. Hope it's ok.

I initially made LBF to make a platform whereby a community of people could be made where one wasn't. And I have a feeling that good things have come of it even in the short-term. Even if this place just becomes a list of links, a portal to Lebanon, it's also ok. We could also be more ambitious and think of more creative things to accomplish. But inshallah, ....yimkin bookrah ..ha ha :)

I'm on meditteranean time no matter where I am. While I love to accomplish things, sometimes things need to develop organically. And that's what I hope we have here. Real relationships hoisting up digital connections instead of the converse.

Let's have a discussion. Tell me how you want this site to improve and if it's doing exactly what you think it should be doing, then great!

Let's just see :)

Best,
Lim

Chiming in...

Been a long time. Missed you all.
Tell me about our beloved Leb'naaaaaaan.
I'm horribly out of the loop.

Anyhow, I've been around all my old CDs lately, therefore I've been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin.

First track on Led Zeppelin III is The Immigrant Song. So, will we continue to migrate or will we finally fix our own house and live in it and prosper?



Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying:
Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green,
Can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war.
We are your overlords.
On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now youd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day
Despite of all your losing.

This Says It All...