Pretty Little Scam

I used to have great respect for bloggers. Actually I used to have a lot of respect for anyone who found time in our busy world to sit down and write.

Until I discovered that Cinderella was actually a pumpkin and a lot of our local bloggers are a big fat corporate scam.

Now before anyone gets offended allow me to make this short disclosure: anything and everything written in this post is not a general statement that applies to all our local bloggers and will not include names of bloggers or companies. Because really, I don't need to. Their identities will become quite obvious. Also, my opinion is not a personal judgement of character of any specific identities, but a judgement of the general controversy. I am also making my judgements as a reader, not a fellow blogger.

Now that I have finally gotten that off my chest, allow me to begin.

Shoosh and I are working on a couple of projects together and because of I our hectic time schedules, laziness and simply our lack of expertise, we decided to check out a company that offers web development and social media management as some of their many services ..

On our way to the meeting room we noticed a notice board that had a chart with some bloggers' names on them and a list of various businesses. I began to understand what it was about but waited to finish the meeting to be sure of my conclusion. 

The meeting went on as the unnamed company explained their range of services to us and so the impending question was finally asked .. "What do you mean by social media management?"

"We take care of your twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube .. we post on your behalf and include captions too."

"So a potential customer would pay you a minimum of 400KD per month.. So that you could basically post on their behalf?"

"Yes, but it doesn't stop there. We have a list of around 35 bloggers who work for us and we will be in agreement that they will indirectly post about whatever you desire during this period."

Some names were thrown around .. Bloggers' that is.

"So wait .. These 'bloggers' are basically your employees and they write whatever you pay them to write and you employ them for their popularity..?"

"We employ them, we make sure we direct a good amount of followers in their direction and then the indirect marketing begins! They post in a away you would never notice is an advertisement."

"So basically it's a personal advertisement."

"Precisely."

Now, there is nothing wrong with getting paid for writing and there is certainly nothing wrong with publicly voicing your opinions. But there is something very wrong with getting people to trust you, idolize you and literally follow you in all you do all the while knowing that you are actively targeting their subconscious into buying into services and hoarding in on merchandise. I don't know about you but I really don't appreciate people being sneaky and manipulative.

It's quite insulting how theses bloggers belittle our intelligence. I mean it's totally unethical for companies as well but I can see why they would pursue such channels of advertisement .. I mean why not take advantage of every way possible to increase sales and interest? But it seems to me as a greater taboo coming from the bloggers as their interaction with us followers is somewhat personal.

It's as if these writers are fake, plastic in so many ways. As if they no longer belong to themselves. It reminds me of the Truman Show where Jim Carry came to realize that his entire world was fabricated and everything around him was posed as advertisement - nothing real nothing honest. Because now all I can think of is that everything these people wear, eat, visit - basically everything/anything they publicly use or praise is an advert for something. 

Don't believe me? Watch them. Go through their accounts and notice. In fact compare one to another and you will see the common pattern!

I used to think that these so called 'celebrity bloggers' achieved their reputations because of what they have accomplished (still haven't figured that out though since basically what they do is take pictures of themselves in pretty clothing - but hey if you think that grants them the label of Kuwait's most accomplished youth, up to you) and that companies approached them to make use of their influential characters, but as it now appears to me these 'celebrity bloggers' had their fame born and molded by these social media companies which have turned them into their most valuable assets. They are a face they will pin on to any product or service and people will run to them by the thousands.

There is nothing wrong with being paid to write your opinion (as long as your opinion remains honest and true to yourself) and there is nothing wrong with promoting products and services, but please, a little honesty and transparency towards the people who look up to you would be nice.

But what can I say, to succeed in business you've got to play a little dirty I guess :/

You Jump I Jump

Once upon a time I was pretty much afraid of everything. I was afraid of heights, the dark, fast moving objects (this includes rollercoasters of course), and being home alone. It was actually quite ridiculous now that I come to think of it .. My fear got in the way of a lot of opportunities I had in life and I grew frustrated.

It’s easy to get used to your comfort zone and honestly why would you step out of everything that feels safe and familiar? – that’s what I always thought, until I took a leap of faith.

One day I was stuck in my driver’s car in the scorching heat of summer in the insane traffic of Kuwait and I had just finished my summer engineering course at Kuwait University. And I decided that my life needed a kick. A hard one.

I was unhappy, I was frustrated, I was depressed because my life was not going the way I had planned or hoped and to be honest most of it was because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. In short, it didn’t feel like my life at all.

I kept remembering a sentence by philosophy professor had repeated several times that day .. and that is that if you want something you never had, you must do something you never did.

So after a year and a half of dragging myself around the engineering program, I quit. It wasn’t easy, especially on my parents. But I persevered. I decided to jump into something even if I was scared to death and uncertain of. And it turned out to be one of the best choices I ever made.

From then on I learnt to trust my gut, because more often than not, my gut was spot on. Sadly sometimes I had ignored it, only to realize later that I shouldn’t have.

Recently I had to trust my gut on something far greater than my career path. I had to know if I was ready to say “I do”. And I did. Even though my husband and I are complete opposites, I trusted my gut and I jumped.

Now many people (including myself in the past) have the misconception that the perfect couple is one that is in in perfect sync, have similar interests and similar ways of thinking. I discovered that it could be the opposite.. Because amongst many things, my husband craves the thrill of everything that scares me bloodless.

So this time I decided I was going to swallow and jump anyway no matter how scared I am because there is a whole world out there and many things to do and I will never learn my limits unless I try to reach as far as I could.

On our honeymoon I rode on the back of his motorcycle for hours in the rain and once I decided to block out my fear I realized that the thrill was worth it. You feel free and unbounded. From then on I went to Sharm ElSheikh and I stopped at nothing. From parachuting to jumping off yatchs and snorkeling in the depths of the sea, and I discovered that life starts at the end of your comfort zone.

The point isn’t to go sign yourself up for a sky diving course. The point is that we fear what we do not know and new things scare us until we take them on. Sometimes the scariest things we challenge ourselves to do turn out to be the best things we ever did. I refuse to believe that opportunities are thrown our way for us to ignore them.

I’m going to make a list from now on to try new things every once in a while to keep life interesting; how will I know what I like and what I don’t unless I try?

So go ahead. Live a little.

Close your eyes and jump.

 

The Dark Room

Recently the husband and I decided to try something new in Kuwait rather than the usual ordinary dinner. We’ve heard about The Dark Room for a while so we checked it out ..

The concept started in the US and was opened in Kuwait with different ideas behind it. The most obvious is that you get to experience how the blind manage to use their senses to make up for the lack of vision and also that you enjoy the taste and smell of food more when you focus on your other senses rather than your sight.

First they give you a box to put all your things in (including your phone!) you can’t take anything with you inside especially if it has a light on it.

You are then taken to a dim lobby area to make your choices out of a three course menu.. not many choices but the food was delicious! You then put on a full apron (trust me, you will need it!) and you are escorted into the darkness by a waitress.

When I say dark .. I mean pitch black. As in your eyes will never adjust to the darkness and you will never know what’s around you. You are guided to your seat and your spoon or fork is put into your hands and the fun begins!

Now to be honest for about the first 5 minutes I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it and the darkness can be quite intimidating at first, but when we started eating and having a few laughs at our horrible aim at feeding each other and the attempts to fill your spoon only to figure out that it's upside down or emptied into your lap, it turned into quite an interesting experience! Especially since your sight is blinded, your other senses are hightened.

The waitresses can see through special goggles and if you need them you have to yell out their name.

Not sure I will be making frequent trips to this restaurant but it’s something you must try at least once! The food is good, thanks to Chef Alaa Al-Sharhan, the service is excellent and it’s a great date idea for couples and newlyweds!

The price per person is 15KD and overall we rated it at 7/10

The Dark Room is located in Burj Jassem in Kuwait City, so make sure to try it out and expect a stain or two when you’re done ;P Enjoy!

Les Mis - A Review (or at least an attempt at one).

Les Misérables - The Musical Phenomenon

I'll start this off by saying that I didn't think the movie was a musical. It makes sense that it is, of course, but I didn't give it much thought before I actually saw the movie. That said, the movie completely blew my mind. I usually hate musicals too, they make me uncomfortable, but the raw acting that came from actors we know and love, mixed with the heart wrenching tale of Les Misérables worked. 

Where do I even begin? Anne Hathaway's heartbreaking portrayal of Fantine was beyond magnificent and easily my favourite aspect of the entire movie. I already liked her as an actress, but watching her reach the depressing depths of Fantine's life and listening to her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream made me fall for her all over again. 

And, yes, that song and countless others are on repeat both in my head and in my iPod. 

Isabelle Allen was a wonderful Young Cosette. She quickly and sadly captured the hearts of everyone watching. Her soft voice and teary eyes were perfect during Castle on a Cloud. My unpopular opinion would probably be that I enjoyed Cosette's scenes when she was younger more than I did when she was older and played by Amanda Seyfried. Amanda is also a favourite of mine, but her portrayal of Cosette was good, nothing more. This could be because I don't really like Cosette as much as say, Fantine, Valjean and Eponine. She was good, her voice was soft and nice to listen to and her character charming and beautiful, but she doesn't appeal to me as much as the others. 

A second unpopular opinion would be that I didn't care for Marius too much. Again, Eddie Redmayne was great, but Aaron Tveit's Enjolras was a lot more memorable for me. I remember his face and his passion for the revolution and I preferred his scenes to Marius's. Although, it has to be said - Eddie Redmayne broke my heart singing Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. 

The revolution itself is a little fuzzy for me. It was all enjoyable to watch and my interest didn't falter once, but I could definitely do with not seeing anybody covered in that much crap. 

Eponine. I loved her. She's sad and starving for love and completely and utterly friendzoned. On My Own plays constantly in my head, it's words touching me every single time. I don't get how singing in the rain suddenly leads to her dressing as a boy and joining the revolution but there's no reason to question it. 

Loved Gavroche the little boy in the revolution, played by Daniel Huttlestone. He was just a little angel and I was incredibly impressed by him. 

Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Jean Valjean also impressed me. His voice was above average, his acting excellent and his character one of my favourites.

Voice-wise - Russel Crowe was my only disappointment. His acting was phenomenal as usual, but his voice was subpar. It wasn't bad. It really wasn't - and the rawness of it was endearing and despite his character being hateful and persistent, I liked Javert. His voice wasn't something bad digging into the side of a brilliant movie. Far from it. He was just average in his singing compared to the rest. 

Nothing, however, compares to The Thenardiers. Helena Bonham Carter and Sasha Baron Cohen, you perfect people. Amusing, hilarious and disgustingly pathetic, this vile couple definitely brought the comic relief.

Go watch the movie. Let the singing wash over you and listen to the story. These actors surprised me in these roles and it's officially made it onto my favourite movies of all time list. 

Until next time  x