OK Restaurant bankruptcy: Rumor or real facts?

"OK RESTAURANTS" is a Tunisian company which main activity is trading Meals and gift through a wide network of authorized affiliates (More than 4500 members) throughout the country that -according to unofficial rumors but real testimonials- seems to be unhealthy.

Since a couple of weeks many restaurant ,the main affiliates of this kind business, have stopped accepting OK checks while still accepting other brands their main explanation is that they got unpaid bank checks and the the company is sinking in silence while other restaurants and pastries and shops keep making business with those checks in confidence as all this is just a stupid rumors.

From my end, I did ask the people in charge of this service since we the company grants those checks every month, i got a couple of foggy replies: they said that the company is working fine but that they are not getting any replies from them via phone or email which have pushed the suspicion to realism.

Since there is no official news from the company itself or the local media, the subject is matter to speculation and analysis waiting for an official statement from the company management.

Dark Tranquility to play in Tunisia

We're happy to announce that D.T. will play in Tunisia for the first time ever in less than a month. We always enjoy traveling and bringing our music to new places, so we're very much looking forward to this event.

Date: December 12
Venue: La Coupole d'el Menzah, Tunis

Local support will come from Carthagods. See you there!

Via [D.T. Website]

Can't believe it, one of the most outstanding metal bands of all the time will here in Tunisia, hope this would work out, remember last time they did cancel Anathema concert in the last minute. See ya there!

International Agriculture and Agricultre Machinery and Fishing SIAMAP 2009

You know those later Sunday evenings while you have spend the whole day asleep catching up on movies and tv shows you did miss all along the week? they dropped out of a love for fairs and hate of boredom to the Kram.

The fair was still in progress but there was a couple of things to notice, a huge presence of Tunisians and Italians corporations and a small fresh fruits markets many lovely farm animals (that I didn't even knew that they exist in Tunisia) in one word worth seeing it your self, and down here are some fresh shots.

SIAMAP 2009

Test

Just testing

What's happening to my life

It has a been a long time that I didn't wrote a damn thing and this is how my life turned from a fanatic blogger to a lazy 200 bucks watch boy something I'm really enjoying, you can't really push me I'm a self-taught guy and since I'm doing stuff its means that I really like.

The point is I like it and it's really cool. I promise to be back to blogging just let me get more fun being lazy and spoiled.

Why do Tunisians drink that much ?

Photo: Taken on my desk two weeks ago

The actual note has been lying as a draft since a year (06/26/2006)

You've certainly noticed that Tunis -as California- is the city where you can't find an empty bar, where there are a permanent queue in front of all liquor shops and where the black market is the most exciting night trade ever and thus all along the year, so what's up with those Tunisians? how it come they are more thirsty than Vikings ?

Before getting to any explanation, remember that Tunis is an Arabic Muslim country with some 3000 years that goes from Carthage to Islamic quests, Turkish empire invasion, French colonization , .. The country is located in the heart of the world, yes the heart of the world just in the right middle of the Mediterranean basin, so it has been always a multi-cultured crossroads.

First of all Tunisian drink because they used to for thousands of years, the sunny weather did the best grapes on the world, Romans invaded north Africa to distill the best wine ever, yes they do hundreds years of wars for wine, ... yeah for some cereals too but that it's not a worthy reason to do wars :)

The Muslims quest where alleged to prevent people from drinking wine and start praying for god, but that was brief once settled, they started tasting the real joy of wine in the jar ... so far from the Headquarters, the new comers were rapidly melted with the red liquid culture, the Turkish and French colonizations did a solid statement about alcohol as the proud of the nation, indeed the oil was excellent, but the wine was devilish to resist.

And so that our blood was extracted directly from thousands of years of struggle, warmed by the independence, we kept on the happy habits from the far past rolling on.

Tunisian drink simply for two reasons: to get drunk as everybody does in all over the world and sometimes to feel special as belonging to the mad drink community, but I simply that drinking is more a local habit than a way to show off, a nation with thousands of years of Berber and Roman history can't let down habits that easy, in fact the French colonization have even stamped the industry quite deep in our economy.

If you go to any bar around Tunis downtown in local popular bar as Schilling, you'll notice all class people drinking and eating dozens of beers for continuous hours like pirates or vikings -I do the often experience myself- enjoying a friendly talk or watching a soccer game. You could get surprised but this is how beer business works around here since ever.

An aborted sucide tentative that last over 6 house

Tunisia : An aborted sucide tentative that last over 6 house from Via Tekiano on Vimeo.

A mentally unstable young man has climbed over the top of Tunis city clock watch and stuck for more than six hours before getting trapped by the police as handling him a sandwich on a top of a firemen ladder.

Eyewitness said that the guy's demands were to meet the president threating to throw himself if ever someone get close.

This happened before at the end of the 2004's soccer African cups of nation on Tunisia, two young guys got there to show their joy about the victory, one of them unfortunately lost control and fall down and died two days later in the hospital.

I wonder if they should put a fence or a guard around ...

Photobloggers Meetup

Guys! Tomorrow Thursday, April 16th 18:30 pm in Cafe Jamaica - El Hana 10th Floor. special guest : Skydancer.

Via [Photography happens in Tunisia]

Anathema Concert canceled

As predicted previously, Anathema Tunisia concert has been canceled as they didn't get an extra permit from the ministry of interior, the main reasons for this humiliating disaster are about two main points: first some morans have released a rurmour that the band is a satanic metal group and then because Tunisia is the Islam capital of the year(like anybody cares), what can I say it's an other taste of the bitter of the orphaned land we will keep living anyway for a better sunrise ..

Anathema Concert pushed for Monday

The so long awaited Anathema concert has been reported to Monday, for some permit issue given by the ministry of interior, the show has been canceled until next Monday but who knows what's coming next.

i smell some stuff but who cares?

Tunisia Barcamp

BarCamp is an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants. The first BarCamps focused on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies, social protocols, and open data formats. The format has also been used for a variety of other topics, including public transit, health care, and political organizing.

Bravely brought to us by Mehdi Lamlou, the first Tunisian Barcamp will be held Saturady May 9th, 2009. I'll be there as much as many other friends.

Via [Escalier 7] and [Chopitos]

How To Work Better

1. Do one thing at a time
2. Know the problem
3. Learn to listen
4. Learn to ask questions
5. Distinguish sense from nonsense
6. Accept change as inevitable
7. Admit mistakes
8. Say it simple
9. Be calm
10. Smile

Working It Out [Tate Online]

An other alien from the west

While searching for photos about Tunisia, I caught an other awesome well made filled with tons of photography of an special visitor (nothing to do with tourists), Mrs. Darrow’s seems to be the kind to hold a guide, ride a car and go ahead into the unknown, she seems to be a travel hippie, pointing down to very little detail in her way from Tunis, Bizerte, Zaghouan, ....

Take a look at [Mrs. Darrow’s Adventures in Tunisia]

Sama Dubai project almost evaporated

Cartoon: courtesy of [Debat Tunisie]

In Tunisia, first, the project "The Gate of the Mediterranean, the new city that Sama Dubai, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding Group, is proposed on the shores of South Lake of Tunis, with an investment of 25 billion dollars, no longer appears in the immediate future on the agenda. Indeed, meeting in extraordinary general meeting, Sama Dubai and the UK EC Harris, decided on 27 January 2009 to dissolve proactively "Sama ECH Tunisia", their joint venture in Tunisia, which was overseeing the planning and implementation of the project "The Gate of the Mediterranean".

Source [Web Manager Center (french)]

Via [Tunisia Watch(french)]

As I did predict months ago, the prject no longer exits and was hit. back to normal, no skycrapers or Indians welders in the way, just salty water and few birds eating fish.

Wild Monkeys in Tunisia

...last week, of my coworkers , graciously provided me with pictures of monkeys shot in Kalaat Snen close by a mine Bujabr the north-west of Tunisia (Kef state) .... According to my information that people who suffer from hunger and thirst, and would not let them close to keep the rights to them ... and I do not know which of the authorities responsible for land animals can do so...

Tunisia used to be the homeland of many wild creatures until climate changes, wars and natural disasters, but it seems that a blogger's friend did take pictures of a couple of wild monkeys in the northern Tunisia in Kaalat Snen suffering from hunger and thirst -as this is not their natural enviroennment-, the authorities may need to rescue those poor animals before their percish or they may just evolve.

Via [Al Hallège (Arabic)]