Purple Magazine
— Travel F/W 2014 issue 1
A day in Beirut with Charbel Haber from Scrambled Eggs _ Lebanon
text by NEGAR AZIMI photography by AYLA HIBRI and JOE KESROUANI A Lebanese friend once told me she had sex dreams about two people only: Hassan Nasrallah and Catherine Deneuve. The pairing of the hirsute Hezbollah leader and the actress from Belle de Jour, scandalously incongruous as it seems, in my mind perfectly captures Beirut. […]
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beirut skyline, photo by Joe Kesrouani
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the musician CHARBEL HABER as our guide through his hometown, beirut photo by JOE Kesrouani
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Sporting club, Ras Beirut “Cement never looked that good. I know an architect who can confirm that. And those yellow patches… our last rampart against invading nations and never-ending waves of disillusion”
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“A city that never looked as good as when it was destroyed”
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The Egg “I Composed a musical piece for this piece of shit, cement and steel in Downtown Beirut. No need to elaborate, as it will soon disappear”
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Charbel Haber in his apartment photo by Joe Kesrouani
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Holiday Inn, Ras Beirut “Beirut is an ugly, disfigured city”
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Torino Express, Gemmayzeh “No sandwiches. No food. just shots… Tequila, vodka, whiskey, grappa… Torino Express, a place to be in times of conflict, all-out war, and minor regional disputes”
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Internazionale, Mar Mikhael “JFK gone wrong on an middle east airlines staff flight, way back in the 1950s. On the right side of the picture. There! Did you spot him? That’s your daily companion at Internazionale. That place with two benches and its lovely anti-social German owner. That’s how I start my day. a late morning or An early afternoon on Armenia street”
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Super Out, Mar Mikhael “Super Out, back to the ’80s. The owner of this place is quite a character. He’s one of many proud supporters of an unlikely hero. A passionate follower of a ruthless, rehabilitated then assassinated warlord — a former justice, power, and education minister in a succession of postwar governments. Another believer in another lost cause, he runs the place single-handedly, guardian of an unappreciated magnetic tape archive. there are Gems in here for cassette lovers”
