Short Bio and Plans for 2007

I was born in Beirut, Lebanon on April 2nd, 1957 and completed primary and secondary studies in both Arabic and French at Jesuits and Christian Brothers schools, with and added one year of college in Bio-Chemistry at the Lebanese University.

After 5 long years of war, I left Beirut for Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, where I worked as international purchasing manager for an Electrical and Mechanical contracting company. My specialty then was industrial and residential lighting.

I also took a second night job as an entertainer in the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel, as a singer / keyboard / guitar player. As a 3rd part time job, I produced and presented Radio Riyadh's first French weekly songs program, which lasted for a little over a year.

I left Riyadh following the passing of King Khaled in mid 1982, after being notified that the religious police (mutawa) would then prohibit any form of entertainment in the kingdom, which took away a large chunk of my income. So I immigrated to Canada where I started my new life by buying an Italian restaurant in Montreal, Quebec.

Between the years 1983 and 1985, I worked as telegram singer, balloon sculptor and magician clown for children and adults parties, both private (residential, corporate) and public (municipalities, hospitals, national events). This part of my life eventually took over as my new career, so I started my company "Productions Party, Inc.", which eventually became one of Canada's most successful and largest in the entertainment business. Besides Singing Telegrams and Clowning, Magic, Music Bands, Circus, etc. , the company eventually expanded and owned a recording studio, a Record Label ("Discason"), produced records, video-clips and a local Community TV show.

Then, for reasons too long to explain in short, I had to start diversifying. My company turned into a holding of seven other businesses, including a Fiber Optics and Neon Signs workshop, a Lebanese Restaurant and a luxurious SPA both in downtown Montreal and last, but not least, a fiber optics lighting factory in Saudi Arabia.

After the two Golf and Gulf wars of the summer of 1990* and the Good and Services Tax stunt by the both the Federal and Provincial governments as well as a series of unfortunate events, coupled with bad luck and bad decisions, I saw the domino effect in slow motion bringing down my small empire in less than four years.

By early 1995, I was finally a clean and free man traveling in a dark tunnel. So I dropped everything and I went fishing, literally; spear-fishing, to be exact or, more precisely; "FreeDive Hunting". And I was good at it. So three years later, I became North America's exclusive distributor of "Picasso", a freedive hunting gear and equipment manufacturer in Spain and Portugal. My new company was incorporated in Canada as "Picasso America Diving Equipment Inc." or, picassoamerica.com . It 1998, it was the world's first freediving company to sell online through ecommerce. I had created the website myself and a friend of mine wrote the Java based shopping cart.

In spite being well known in Europe, the “Picasso” diving brand was then almost completely unknown in North America.

In late 2001 I made an excellent investment decision by purchasing the domain name Picasso.com and developing the website www.picasso.com . Not into the diving brand name stuff, but ... Into an Arts website, telling the story of the world's greatest artist ever: Pablo Ruiz Picasso. In the moment, this site's revenue is through affiliates programs, such as Art.com, Allposters.com, Amazon.com, etc.


Now, back to Picasso Diving Products; thanks to the hard work day and night, by 2005, the "Picasso" brand name was among the most recognizable as one of the best in Freedive Hunting gear and equipments worldwide. In fact, it was the number one in the world in freediving and spear-fishing wetsuits, neoprene accessories and fins.

But by early 2005, I went into Research and Development mode. I wanted to also create my own freedive hunting gear design under a new brand name, which I finally did by mid 2006, after reaching a business deal which allowed me to free myself of the day to day work and dedicate my time and energy to design and manufacturing. Picasso America and FreeDive Shop's head offices were relocated in a brand new and large working warehouse in West Sacramento, CA and they are now run by my new partners, Vanessa and Greg. We kept the shop in Hermosa Beach and are now looking to expand into all the major cities and coastal towns of California.

My goals for 2007 are:

1- To launch and establish a new freedive hunters online community portal FreediveHunters.com , including facilities such as Forum, Blog, Photo and Video Galleries, web mail, etc.

2- To launch a completely revamped website with a new sales and marketing direction of freediveshop.com

3- To design and manufacture new models of my new brand name wetsuits and neoprene accessories, which is already taking its well earned place in the freedive hunting world, (see how the first model looks like here) and to create a new website as well as hard copy catalog for the YAZBECK brand products.

4- To change the vocation of the domain name Picasso.com from a website about Picasso the Artist, earning revenues from affiliate programs, to an all out and exclusive "Arts Portal", which will earn much higher revenues from ads (mostly), memberships and ecommerce.

5- Getting back into my earlier athletic shape before I reach the top of them all hills, next April 2007 :-).

So, I hope and pray to God I will still have time and energy to spend two hours a day at the gym, amidst all the chores and goals above :-)

One word of wisdom though: The chief chaplain of New York's bravest, Fire Fighter Mychal Judge, who died in the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 while attending spiritually to the dying, once quoted "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans for tomorrow"

So let's just see what tomorrow brings!

Roger Yazbeck

* In 1990, the Mohawk Indian tribe of Caughnawaga (Kahnawake now), went to war against the Quebec government and went into blockade for 77 days, allegedly over an 18 holes Golf Course that the city of Oka wanted to build on their lands.
While the stand-off was holding still and before Canada's Federal army stepped in, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on August 2nd, 1990, which launched the 1990/1991 Gulf War

Another Sad Day for Lebanon

Three days ago, November 21st 2006, on the eve of Lebanon's 43rd Independence Day, another heinous murder took place.
Pierre Amin Gemayel, son of former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel, grandson and namesake of the founder of the Kataeb, was shot while driving his car in a Beirut suburb.
Pierre was an elected deputy of the Lebanese Parliament as well as a minister in the cabinet.
I could write and write about this, but I won't. I will just write a few lines for the diary.

I knew Pierre as a fellow spearfisher. Eight or nine years ago, he would drive to meet me in the town of Tabarja, north of Beirut, to help him rig his spear-guns.

I also knew his uncle, Bachir Gemayel, whom I had met the first time in front of the Kataeb Party's quarter in Achrafieh, Beirut, sometimes in 1973, two years before the start of the War on Lebanon, on Sunday April 13th, 1975. That day, Bachir and I had an argument about how to respond to the aggression against a party member.

Bachir would be elected President of the Lebanese Republic and then murdered in that same spot where we stood arguing, less than a decade later, on September 14th, 1982.

In all, the Gemayel have lost 5 of their children to the great Lebanese Cause.

Will I still be here for my better half?

As we were having a drink on the night of his 50th birthday, an old friend of mine told me what his 90 years old mother said to him earlier in the day.

"The first half of your life is now past you. Try your best to make better of your second chance"

That was 25 years ago. My friend is world famous jazz composer, player and big band conductor, Vic Vogel.

Today, I'm on the eve of my own 50th birthday. Only 5 months to go.

I promise I'll try even harder next half :-)