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A gunman pumped five or six rounds into a woman’s sedan early Saturday, wounding her two adult sons, after in an argument in the parking lot of a hookah lounge, Chula Vista police said.

Their mother dialed 911 on her cell phone about 1:20 a.m., saying her sons had been shot and she was driving them to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, police Lt. Vern Sallee said.

Officers met the family at the hospital. one victim, 19, was wounded in the right shoulder and his brother, 24, was wounded in the abdomen. Although Sallee described the wounds as superficial, both men were transferred to a trauma center.

The two had been at the Sapphire Lounge hookah lounge at 4076 Bonita Rd., near Sweetwater Road. as they were leaving about 1:20 a.m., riding in a Nissan Sentra driven by their mother, they got into an argument with two men in a green Ford Expedition, Sallee said.

Sallee said the Ford driver pulled onto the road ahead of the Sentra and stopped. A passenger, described only as an Hispanic man in his 40s, walked toward the Sentra’s passenger side, stopped 15 or 20 feet away, raised a handgun and opened fire.

Two rounds pierced the car and hit the brothers. the gunman got back in the Ford and was driven away, east on Bonita Road. Investigators found five or six shell casings at the scene. Sallee said police received one other phone call reporting gunshots, but officers found no witnesses to the shooting.

This story was written and edited by City News Service.

Tags: Chula Vista police, guns, Scripps Mercy Hospital, SDNN, Sedan, victims

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Gunman on the loose after shooting two men

Owner Aaron Roth said tea shisha is made from ground black tea leaves mixed with a flavored sugar base, a switch from using tobacco leaves.
“The tea shisha seems to be higher quality because the smoke is just as thick as the tobacco smoke, but there’s no tar and no nicotine, and it also tastes better,” he said.

Evolution Tea Shisha, the brand used at the lounge, was invented by producer Hookah Hookah last summer while Roth was creating the lounge. Roth said the shisha comes in 20 different flavors such as pumpkin pie, margarita and his own special concoction mojito.

“It actually tastes like the smell, which is great,” he said.

Many people like tobacco shisha because of the short buzz they feel after smoking, but tea shisha is calming. plus, it doesn’t have to be changed out as often.

“When the tobacco is spent it tastes burnt, but when the tea is spent it just tastes like tea again,” he said.
For $10, customers get two hoses and a bowl of tea shisha, which lasts about an hour.

Roth said tea shisha can be an alternative to those who feel sick after smoking tobacco shisha.

“When you smoke the tobacco shisha, people tend to get a headache or a stomachache, and it’s just really intense,” he said.
Customer Iain Deason said he doesn’t like smoking tobacco shisha because it makes him loopy.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes themselves,” he said. “I feel that tobacco kind of dries you out a little bit and it kind of gives you a nasty feeling, but I love the smoke of it. I love kind of the pleasure you get out of it, but I really love blowing smoke rings and stuff like that.”

Roth said he’s had some community members who are opposed to the hookah lounge, even though the shisha is tobacco free, which surprised him.
“Also, people don’t really know what a hookah is and it’s really a beautiful process, and I think we’ve forgotten that or maybe haven’t learned it yet,” he said.

He was introduced to hookah lounges when he lived in Egypt during his senior year of high school.

“It’s the most beautiful thing out of the Arab culture, just because that’s their coffee shop type of meditation,” he said. “It’s almost a spiritual experience when people were smoking in Egypt, from what I noticed. everyone would get their own pipe, so it wasn’t as social an event, but people would meet up there and they would sit there for hours talking about their experiences from that day.”

Roth said he tried to recreate a Middle Eastern hookah lounge, which provides exotic and local art in a relaxing and comfortable environment. the hookah lounge is located in a little hidden nook, making it cozy, he said.

“It’s not a traditional hookah lounge, but I do try to create the same feel as a traditional hookah lounge, which is more like a cafe so people are sitting around, reading a newspaper (and) smoking a hookah.”

Deason said in the times he’s been to the hookah lounge, he’s experienced a comfortable environment.

“The atmosphere experience is paramount of the lounge itself,” he said. “In the times I’ve come in I’ve either been with a few friends or just to kick back and study by myself.”

Roth said most of his clients come in from 8 p.m. to midnight on weekdays. Roth said he is considering extending his hours.
“I didn’t realize that Albuquerque actually needs a place where people can come in later and just hang out,” he said.
The lounge hosts event nights during the weekend, which include local bands, DJs and art exhibits.

“I do like to keep the atmosphere pretty calm for the most part and the events are on the weekends so the people who want to do studying during the week aren’t annoyed by it,” he said.

A nice, hot spot of hookah

The German government’s top addiction prevention official has warned that the increasingly popular trend of smoking tobacco in shisha water pipe is at least as damaging as cigarettes and that many young people underestimate the dangers.

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It is a myth that water pipe smoke is less dangerous because the harmful substances are filtered out. But the opposite is the case, Peter Lang told a recent conference in Erfurt.

Stern magazine reported this weekend that he said figures showed that one in ten of teenagers in Germany smoke shisha pipes regularly and that use had increased over the last five years or so.

Pupils at grammar schools are said to be using the pipes particularly frequently, as smoking cigarettes has become less socially acceptable.

But only every second young person knows that water pipe smoke is damaging, said Lang.

The tobacco in shisha pipes is not set alight and directly inhaled, he explained. Instead the damp tobacco, which is often impregnated with smells such as strawberry and apple, is heated up on charcoal and then sucked through water.

This means that during smoking, there is not this uncomfortable, scratchy feeling, he said. Many believe that therefore smoking from a water pipe is even healthy.

But he said the fact that the tobacco is under lower temperatures than when set alight, means that more poison is released than otherwise. And the fact that the smoke is cooler, means smokers inhale it more heavily.

Thus, heavy metals like chrome, nickel or lead are sucked more deeply into the lungs, said Lang. in the long term this increases the danger of lung cancer as well as tumours on the lips and mouth.

For young people that may seem like a long way away but it is not, he said.

And it is among younger people that the shisha pipes are increasingly popular many do not even rate themselves as smokers if they have a water pipe a couple of times a month, although many smoke them more frequently.

Among 15-year-olds, there are now as many shisha smokers as there are cigarette smokers, around 15 percent, said Lang.

Addiction expert warns over ignorance of shisha smoke dangers

I want to buy a super pack from hookah-shisha.com and while I’ve smoked my share of hookah, I’ve never tried Romman shisha. I want to know what flavors of Romman would be good enough to be worthy of buying it in the 250 g size?

Generally, I know Romman shisha is supposed to be very good, but what flavors are best?

February 26,2010

Dean Morrison
News Reporter

Cairo is the setting for a languid romance that is a throwback to another era.

Cairo Time won the best Canadian Film prize at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009.

Montreal-born director Ruba Nadda presents a film that is set in the Middle East, but is devoid of the usual tension and violence often associated with this region.

The film centers on Juliette (Patricia Clarkson), a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo to meet her diplomat husband, mark (Tom McCamus), for a vacation.

When her husband’s work keeps him from meeting her, he sends a friend and former colleague, Tareq (Alexander Siddig), to show her around.

Out of her element, Juliette is appreciative of Tareq’s company and finds herself drawn to his old world charm.

The heart of the story is about a middle-aged woman’s search for herself after her children have left the house and she is experiencing loneliness and seeks a new direction in her life.

Waiting for her husband to join her, the loneliness and alienation she is feeling in her marriage is reflected in this strange and exotic city.

A beautifully acted and photographed story of two people trying very hard not to fall in love, the main characters bring untold layers of emotion to a very simple story.

Director Nadda has crafted a story that shows that not all love affairs are based on sex.

This is one of emotion and quiet respect.

The city of Cairo is as much a character here as the people involved.

The Nile, the pyramids, the hookah bars and bustling markets all play significant roles within the film.

The end result is a low-key movie that lingers in one’s mind long after the end credits have rolled.

The Nicola Valley Film Society presents Cairo Time at the Merritt Civic Centre at 7:30 p.m., March 8.

The movie is in English.

Cairo brought to life in Egyptian love story

9th Street Hookah Lounge brings eclectic sophistication

The hookah lounge opens Friday.

By Justin Whaley

Published Feb. 19, 2010

• 

  Nick Agro/Staff Photographer

  A hookah pipe sits in the front of Columbia’s newest hookah bar, 9th Street Hookah Lounge. the cozy new establishment, which opens Friday, offers both tobacco and molasses-based smoking experiences.

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Sweet aromas rise up from the beautiful vase-like structure in the middle of the table. Hoses go ’round and ’round as a smoky haze envelops the room. Chatting about music, people and the wonders of life, savants puff gently as they pass the pipe from person to person. Whether it’s flavored tobacco or the healthier flavored molasses you’re into, hookah can be social and relaxing. But during the harsh Missouri winter in which we reside, sharing hookah is nearly impossible outdoors. where can hookah enthusiasts turn?

Hookah-ists, fear the cold no longer. take refuge from the brutal weather at 9th Street Hookah Lounge, the first of its kind in Columbia. the idea sprouted for owner Marcia Davis when she fell in love with hookah lounges near her home in Chicago. Soon after, she realized the cool, calm personality of the lounges and the cool cats who frequent them.

“I was really impressed with the atmosphere,” she said. “The kids were relaxed and having a great time.”

And so the endeavor began. Davis’ love of Columbia, hookah and Columbia’s prosperity for new businesses compelled her to pursue this dream. with the help of friends and partner Buck Jennings, she began developing and renovating the lounge, which sits right across from the Blue Note, a primo location.

Some hookah lounges have lavish furniture and belly dancers. And though she won’t rule anything out, Davis said she wants her lounge to be almost like an inviting living room. Walking into 9th Street Hookah Lounge, you’ll find tall tables, low lying sectional seating and even two faux fireplaces. with its lodge-inspired design, the lounge could be a homey place to study, socialize and share hookah.

“It’s a nice place,” Davis said. “Very upscale but comfortable.”

What’s on the menu at 9th Street Hookah Lounge? Try 36 flavors of shisha and six flavors of tobacco-free molasses, ranging from raspberry to peach and many others. for the caffeine fiends, try some “power bull,” a flavorful representative of Red Bull energy drinks with a little kick. Devour these delectable flavors through extravagant hookahs: their brushed glass, bejeweled vases and wooden pipes can make the experience all the fancier.

Although the lounge sells shisha and provides customers with a hookah, bring your own beverages (non-alcoholic beverages, that is). Davis said though the menu consists of only the tobacco and molasses, she hopes to soon be able to sell lavish hookahs and accessories.

What type of scene does Davis want to see on opening night? A huge crowd, an eclectic mix of people and a friendly setting with much meeting and greeting. She hopes to meet future lounge regulars and give people a place to kick back and relax after a long day’s activities.

“I hope people are standing in line to get in!” she said.

Finally, a smooth lounge for people to indulge and relax becomes local. 9th Street Hookah Lounge opens at 4 p.m. Friday. Hit up this new hot spot to escape the cold, make some new friends and have a flavorful good time. Marcia Davis gladly welcomes all to her lodge-like abode.

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9th Street Hookah Lounge brings eclectic sophistication

As hookah smokers know the atmosphere is big in smoking. I am going to get my first hookah and I would like some suggestions as to what kind of music would go good with the hookah atmosphere. of course there is stuff like Pink Floyd and the Doors, but I am curious about more world music/middle eastern/indian music that would go well in such a setting. Any song suggestions would be great.

Hookah Music?