One of the most interesting phenomena to me are those “D
Year: 2007
Tunisia’s Le Belvedere Zoo
Last week, we found ourselves with some free time on our hands and so we thought we’d go ahead and take Adam to the zoo in downtown Tunis, the one in the Le Belvedere area. He seems to like animals, so we thought it’d be really good fun.
The last time I personally visited the zoo prior to last week was about 5 years ago, and it was already heart-breaking then; the images I carried on from my dear childhood memories and the magic of the place were almost all gone.
But last week was even more painful: so many cages and animal areas were empty, mostly the ones I loved most; the animals that were left looked tired, underfed and depressed; the whole place just seemed like it was stripped of the life, beauty and magic it once had; there were still children there with their families, but not as happy as we used to be, and not as many either; the place had become yet another cheap place for couples to go on their dates; in short, our national zoo is in a sorry state.
Personally, I think it’s a shame that such a historical establishment is doing so bad nowadays, not getting the proper care and funding.
I’ve already written before about the Fish Aquarium in Carthage and how it’s not doing any better.
Entrance fee is around 1/2 Dinar for adults and 300 millimes for kids. You also have to pay another 300 millimes if you want to use a camera.
These low prices show that the zoo is clearly subsidized by the government, because it wouldn’t be able to operate on such low entrance fees. It’s great of the government to take onto its shoulders such institutions, but it’s also obvious and normal that its priorities are elsewhere, and that maybe other ways should be explored to fund such cultural establishments, to keep them going and growing.
Personally, I think a diversified approach should be taken: increasing the entrance fees a bit to help really cover part of the costs; seeking sponsorships, grants, patronage or whatever other form of financial backing by wealthy culture-oriented organizations or funds; building the zoo up as an unforgettable experience and a lasting brand and maybe getting into merchandising…etc.
These are just some ideas off the top of my head, but it’s all to try and say that every possible option should be explored to save the zoo and other important cultural establishments like it that are facing similar problems.
I truly dream of a day when our Zoo is one of the greatest in the region, that future generations of Tunisians and even tourists will cherish as a dear experience and memory they’ll want to relive time and again.
How To Provoke Thought
I was just chatting with a friend of mine on Gtalk, when they asked me to write another one of my posts that make a person think.
So me being in the mood, that got me thinking, what is it that makes people think? In other words, how do you provoke thought?
I mean, for me and for a lot of other people, when you write something, you post a photograph you’ve taken, you quote somebody, …etc; your absolute goal is mostly to get people to think about a certain something, and maybe even eventually get to a certain destination you had in mind.
Sometimes you help guide them into the thought you’re trying to pass on and that you want them to carry on with, and sometimes you leave it open for them to interpret and think as they wish.
But generally speaking, what is it that triggers that thinking process for the person that is consuming what you’ve just published?
In short, are there any universally applicable guidelines to provoke thought?
Here are some of my thoughts and ideas on ways thought can be provoked:
– Get to know the crowd you’re talking to and pick a topic they’re already pretty interested in.
– Present the issue in a way that exposes all the important and necessary points but still leaves a number of open questions for the people to ponder on.
– Cast doubt on a subject that most people already take for granted, making them go back and reconsider what they thought they already knew.
– Show how important the point is and how they’re directly touched and involved in it.
– Don’t make it feel like you’re just handing out hard information, but rather like initial pointers for a discussion.
– One of the easier ways is to somehow get into a debate that touches upon existentialism.
– One of the harder ways is to come up with a different point of view on a subject that’s rarely discussed and expose it for people to ponder.
– Ask questions. There’s nothing easier to make someone think than actually asking them to.
I’m sure there are many other ways and approaches that I haven’t mentionned here. Please do feel free to share your thoughts and ideas, what you think about all this, and what makes you think.
War Is Peace…
I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.— George W. Bush, June 2002
Mezed, A Tunisian Auction Site
Mezed is a new Tunisian auction site that recently surfaced into the arena of online startups in Tunisia.
A number of Tunisian startups/websites have already been launched to try and push through the idea of online auctions in Tunisia, get it popular, and attempt to make some money out of it. Examples off the top of my head are sites like: MoncefBay and EchriBay.
A lot of these services hang on for a while before fading away into Tunisian internet history now. The auction model just hasn’t taken off and worked up to now, for one reason or another.
Websites that approach the whole buying/selling thing through small classified ads seem to be doing a little better maybe, but nothing we can be proud of and call e-commerce yet, I guess.
Anyway, back to Mezed, the website takes on a new and different approach to the whole auctions system, re-inventing the wheel, and generating a lot of buzz along the way.
Mezed’s system revolves solely around buyers; people can’t sell their stuff on the website, they can only buy stuff that Mezed is selling, products it gets at cheap prices from its partners.
Tunisian Island Of Djerba: Top Holiday Destination In 2008
Some interesting news about Tunisian Tourism…
An annual survey conducted by the travel website “TripAdvisor” on more than 2500 travellers from around the world, found that the island of Djerba is set to be the top holiday destination in the world in 2008.
Djerba is followed by Makadi Bay, Egypt; Phangnga, Thailand; Kovalam, India; and Sabaudia, Italy.
The survey also shows that beach trips are still a hit with travellers, with 64% of the people saying that they would prefer to relax by the sea than do anything else on holiday.
The Island of Djerba , off the Tunisian coast and some 500 kilometers away from the capital, is already one of the Mediterranean’s favourite tourist locations, thanks to its pristine beaches and rich culture.
[Source: All Africa]
Well, that’s good to hear, Djerba is a beautiful place that I personally love to visit whenever I get the chance to.
And all I can say is “Welcome” to everyone who chooses to visit Djerba, the island of dreams, I hope you al have a wonderful time.
Mukesh Ambani Becomes World
Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, 50, became the world’s richest man yesterday, overtaking Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, as the value of his stake in refinery-to-textiles giant Reliance Industries and two other group companies swelled, a direct result of the strong performance witnessed in the Indian stock markets recently.
Only last month, he overtook steel czar Lakshmi Mittal to become the richest Indian in the world.
The list of the five richest people in the world and their net worths is as follows now:
1. Mukesh Ambani ($63.2 billion)
2. Carlos Slim Helu ($62.2993 billion)
3. Bill Gates ($62.29 billion)
4. Warren Buffett ($55.9 billion)
5. Lakshmi Mittal ($50.9 billion)
How long he’ll be able to hold onto the title of ‘Richest man in the world’ is another matter that remains to be seen. Poor Carlos Slim didn’t hold on to it for too long.
Brijit: Good Content Boiled Down To 100 Words
Brijit is a pretty interesting new service that takes long-form content and boils it down to 100 words or less, giving users abstracts that attempt to summarize, review and rate the original content, passing along the basic necessary information to the user and making it easier for them to choose what to dive deeper into by going back to the original content.
The abstracts are written by freelancers, with the possibility for anyone to join in, and these freelancers get paid $5 for every published abstract. It’s also possible for others to leave comments/other takes on an abstract.
The abstracts come with a rating system, from zero dots (not a priority read) to three dots (a must-read.)
There are RSS feeds you can subscribe to all over the site, per source, per subject, Brijit’s recommended reads, most popular reads, …etc.
Plus, you can save your favourite reads on the site.
The site’s design is really neat, nice and usable; pretty well organized and straight to the point.
Personally, I think this is quite an interesting service and approach, very useful for people who quickly want to browse news and content in search of things they might find interesting and that they could delve deeper into later on, by reading them online, buying a magazine or watching them on TV.
Tunisian Film Gets Best Arab Film Award
Good news related to Tunisian cinema…
The Tunisian film “Tender is the Wolf” (Ors El Dhib) received best Arab film Award at the 11 th edition of the San Francisco Arab Film Festival. The Festival aims at featuring alternative representations of Arabs that contradict the current stereotyped pictures of Arabs frequently encountered in the American media.
The film which was directed and written by Jilani Saadi, a young Tunisian film maker, is an unsettling, gritty representation of urban life, exploring issues such as the “sexualization” of women, poverty, unemployment and aimlessness.
The film also received a number of distinctions at several festivals throughout the world, including a special distinction at the latest Carthage Film Festival.
The young Anissa Daoud starring in the film, plays the role of Aziza, a young prostitute who is gang raped by a group of outcasts. The other main role in the film, namely that of ‘Stoufa’, is played by Hassine Graya.
“Tender is the wolf” is not the only Tunisian film to take part in this festival. Nouri Bouzid’ s post 9/11movie , “Making Of” was shown at the opening of the festival- a distinction in itself- eliciting much praise and sparking an intense debate.
[Source: Tunisie Online News]
So there’s one other must-see Tunisian movie on my list…
Personally, I haven’t had the chance to watch as much as I’d like of our Tunisian movies, just the more famous ones, and those I really liked.
So I’d be really grateful to whoever can suggest their favourite Tunisian movies for me to check out.
Which other Tunisian movies do you think are a must-see?
Knowledge Building: The Internet vs. Television
Sometime ago, I remember a friend and I were talking about the internet and television as sources of information, which one is more useful, which one gives us more knowledge and generally comparing the two mediums.
At the end of the discussion we reached the conclusion that the main difference between the internet and TV is that one, the internet, is a “Pull” medium, while the other, TV, is a “Push” one.
Online, you generally know what you’re looking for or you have a little idea about it, so you search for it and go to places where you can find it, something you can do pretty easily; which means that it’s you who is pulling the information, seeking it, finding it and using it.
As for television, you don’t have much control over what’s on, you get a series for example, then the news, then some documentary, then some music, …etc. Information is pushed your way, some of it you were looking for, some other stuff you weren’t necessarily seeking but that gains your interest anyway, and other stuff you just ignore.
Even though sometimes the dividing line isn’t as clear, if we try to look a little closer, we can more or less find it in most cases.
But what does that mean? Which is more useful?
A direct thought could be that maybe the internet is better suited for research, diving deeper into what we already know a bit about and getting the information we need; while on the other hand, TV is a better source for general knowledge and initiating us to new kinds of information, with all the different bits and pieces it pushes at us, given we’re open to all these different things.
And so, these two mediums more or less compliment each other in our knowledge-building process, filling up each other’s gaps.
For example, many times, I’d get a bit of information on TV that I didn’t know about before, that I might have never gotten otherwise, something I would find really interesting, and that I would go on to research in greater detail online.
What’s your opinion on all this?