Burj Dubai Classic Auto Show

This weekend they have put together the first annual Burj Dubai Classic Car Show along the boulevard in Downtown Burj Dubai...right over there (see me pointing a couple blocks away). It was a nice show with about 60-70 cars of all varieties. Thankfully, alot of them were older than me. I didn't see too many of the owners hanging out with the cars--I think it would have been cool to hear how a 1920s Ford Fire Truck wound up in Dubai.

Dubai Tennis Tournaments

They have two big tennis tournaments in Dubai every February. First the women's tour (photos) comes in for a week and then the men's tour is in the next week. I have always thought buying a ticket to a tennis tournament, especially early rounds, is one of the best bargains in sports. You see so much high quality play and you are very close to the players and the action--and if you spoke Russian, Croatian, German, or a myriad of other languages, you would probably pick up some interesting tidbits from the players.

The Tennis Center is very nice too...surrounded by a large courtyard and about a dozen restaurants and bars. A great place to relax and it's a popular area throughout the year.

The UAE did take a big step backwards in their efforts to become a world destination, when they denied the visa for an Isreali player in the women's tourney. They are paying a stiff fine and are in danger of losing the tournament in future years. They did better the next week, approving a Isreali men's player--but I think the damage is done.

Music

On Facebook, my brother listed his 25 most important albums--important for personal reasons; albums that you wore out listening to over and over again, for whatever rational or demented reason. He challenged others to come up with a list and since I have always treasured music, I decided to come up with my own personal list.

I quickly realized that 25 is not a whole lot, when you are going back 40 years. My list quickly reached into the 60-70 range. So in keeping with the spirit of the challenge, I subdivided my life in to the 8-Track Era and the Digital Era.

Even then, quite a few got left off the lists. BTO, Paul McCartney and Wings, Simon and Garfunkel, Charlie Daniels, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Deep Forest, Grand Funk Railroad, and a handful of others. If I do this a month from now, I'm sure my lists would change a bit. I also left off a few from groups already listed, particurily Jimmy Buffett, who could have his own top 25 list, Doobie Brothers -What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (Great album, but is mentioned for the album title alone), Bruce Hornsby, Fiona Apple and a few others.

It was a fun project; it took a few days and involved a little research to refresh my faded memories, and I got reaquainted with a few old friends.

As a postscript, I still have a few of the 8-tracks and a working 8 track player stored back home in Georgia.

Doobie Brothers - Stampede
Boston - Boston
Mothers Finest' - Another Mother Further
Jackson Browne - Jackson Browne
Pablo Cruise - A Place in the Sun
Wet Willie - Keep On Smilin'
Marshall Turker Band - Searching for a Rainbow
Nantucket - Heartbreaker
Little River Band - Little River Band (8-track)
Atlanta Rythym Section - Are You Ready!
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
Lynard Skynard - Platinum and Gold
Johnny Cash - Greatest Hits Vol 2
Tom Jones - Greatest Hits 1973
Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell
Focus - Live at the Rainbow
Three Dog Night - Seven Seperate Fools
Willie Nelson - Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be.
Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach
Allman Brothers - Brothers and Sisters
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - Collector's item
Led Zepplin - In Thru the Out Door
Jethro Tull - Living in the Past
Jim Croce - Photographs and Memories
Foghat - Fool for the City

Digital Era

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Branford Marsailles - Romances for Saxaphone
Grover Washington Jr. - Winelight
Peter Gabriel - So
Trout Fishing in America - My World
Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett and his Large Band
Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming
Jimmy Buffett - Off to See the Lizard
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Notting Hillbillies - Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time
99X-mas
Stan Ridgway- Mosquitos
Steve Windwood - Back in the High Life
Anita Baker - Rapture
Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is
Fiona Apple - Tidal
Earl Klugh - Life Stories
Lowen and Navarro - Walking on a Wire
Robert Cray - Strong Persuader
Sarah Maclaclan - Fumbling Towards Exstacy
Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
Joan Osborne - Relish
Green Day - Dookie
Offspring - Smash
Paula Cole - This Fire

February Random Firings...

I think Charles Darwin would have enjoyed the UAE. This is not a place where God intended his creatures to live. Being an arid climate there just isn’t a whole lot of animal life--but what is here has clearly adapted for this area of the world. The animals here are very economical. By that, I mean they are small! Birds are small; pigeons are about half the size you would see and far fewer; flies are smaller and no less aggravating. I have not seen a lot of bug life--but the ones I have seen in my apartment are about the tiniest things I have ever seen, about the size of a period. They are so small, and not in great numbers, that they are not even a worry--more a fascination and novelty.

I have noticed the chickens in the grocery stores are pretty small too--and not very satisfying.
I have not seen any dogs running around…none. I have seen a few cats, but not many. The only road kill I have seen was a grey tabby the other night.

When I do stumble upon a patch of green around here, aka, a golf course, I have noticed some very unusual birds with strange colorings and other adaptive features. In Ras Al Kamaihah, we saw some birds with long thin, curved beaks picking bugs out of the grass and reeds…kind of like sand pipers at the seashore in the US. I’ve seen black birds with bright royal blue markings on their wings; some other black and brown birds with peaked headpieces similar to Cardinals. Also, the seagulls are much smaller here.

I will have to pick up a couple field guides.

Of course, camels are at home here--they are big Dromedary (one hump) Camels in this area--as opposed to Bactrian (two-hump) Camels of central Asia. I have seen camel milk and ice cream in the stores--haven't tried it yet. I also hear Camel meat can be had in some areas of town.

Speaking of camels, my brother asked me what the down side of my racing camel adventure could be and I told him that 'the camel breaks a leg and we have to eat him.'' He suggested we shake a bag of charcoal briquets behind him to make him run faster.

Dubai has a long way to go if they want to be a financial capital of the world--Banking can be pretty cumbersome and unpredictable here. I use HSBC, because that’s who my employer uses and they set up the accounts when we got here. I would change, but I think the hassle would be way too much for probably very little benefit.

First of all, there are HSBC branches all over the place--and they are completely useless. Only two offices in all of Dubai can actually handle cash or issue checks. One is in Deira and a pain to get to--the other is in Jebel Ali and I haven’t tried that one yet. Right now, I have a checkbook sitting at the branch in Diera, waiting for me to get up the energy and feel adventurous enough to waste a morning going to collect it.

I have another brewing issue with HSBC. We are allowed a free monthly automatic wire transfer. I set mine up (yes, I had to go to Deira) back on Dec 29. I told my bank officer, Zania (she has been a great help and always remembers me when I come in to Deira) that I wanted to set up the transfer, starting that day and every month on the 29th. She filled out a couple forms and assured me it was all set. I went home and checked a week later--no transfer. I was hardly surprised. I decided to just wait and see what happened at the end of January. Well, 29th of January, twice the amount I had set up was successfully transferred to the US. So, either things are screwed up or they just did both transfers at once. I’m kind of leaning towards screwed up since I only showed one withdrawl instead of 2 for the same amount. Because I really, really, really don’t want to go to Deira, I am waiting it out and seeing what happens at the end of February. Of course, there is no 29th of Feb this year…stay tuned.

They like fountains here--and I like that they like fountains (especially since I’m from the Fountain City, Columbus, GA). We have fountains and waterfalls in the lobby of my apartment building. There are twin 100+ ft waterfalls at the Dubai Mall; there are fountains and waterfalls throughout Festival City; there are garden fountains sprinkled around Old Town; and they just filled the lake fronting the Burj Dubai and it contains fountains that will rival the Bellagio when they crank up in a couple weeks…sweet.

They also do sidewalk cafes well here in Dubai. Unlike Atlanta where you are on a sidewalk being choked by stalled traffic on Peachtree Street, these cafes are very peaceful and set in gardens and along the waterfronts. The Irish Village and about a dozen other restuarants at the Aviation Club provide a very relaxed place to dine, quaff beer and hang out with friends--large shade trees and no motor traffic. There are dozens of shaded cafes in Old Town…many where you can enjoy a shisha pipe while you relax with friends. Unlike cigarette smoke, which is around, but not overwhelming, the shisha pipes have a sweet fruity aroma (granted the second hand smoke is still deadly, but at least it’s not annoying).

It’s interesting dealing with so many folks here who are speaking English as a second language. And most speak very well. I also think it’s interesting that they can’t recognize the differences in Aussie English, the Queens English, and American English--I get asked all the time if I’m from the UK or Australia. I suppose it would be like me learning Arabic and trying to differentiate between someone from Eygpt and someone from the UAE.

Dubai is a dusty place. And the dust is red; or has a reddish tint to it. I suppose it’s from the desert sands--which are reddish in color. I picked up some boxes of Swifter wipes last trip home and they have been great! I have a neighbor from the US who was lamenting the absence of Swifters in the UAE…so I put a box on her doorstep for Valentine’s Day. I can be very sentimental at times.

One continuing frustration here, is that there does not seem to be a tv guide that you can use to plan ahead for tv viewing or to figure out which channel is carrying what. Generally, I try to make a note if I see something I want to watch down the road--it’s not a good system. There are about 5 different cable packages available--and I can’t find guides online for any of them. One of them, Showtime Arabia, does have a guide with highlights.

Here is an interesting thing about the local developments here in Dubai. Several buildings will share a common air conditioning facility--these a huge, 3-4 story block sized buildings with cooling compressors. As far as I can figure out, the air conditioning is included in the condo maintenance fees--whether you use the AC or not--so you might as well go cool. All the renter is paying is the electricity to run the fan…again, nice. My total electric, water and sewage was $37 last month.

And for the most part, that is what Dubai has been so far…very nice, with interesting little tidbits, treasures, and frustrations tossed in.

Sandy Sarab, the Arab

I know everyone has been waiting for a follow up on the Camel racing Syndicate. That's our baby above, Sandy Sarab, one year old. Right now, Sandy is being trained by a premier trainer at a secret Camel Racing camp hidden behind a sand dune in the UAE desert. In due time, Sandy will be moving to a training facility near Nad Al Sheba and the Syndicate owners will be able to go check out our baby. We should also get word on when he will be running races--though the season will be ending soon.

We have a our first syndicate meeting later this month where we will have to decide on officers (I'm politicking for Sheik Pooper Scooper), a Syndicate Logo, and also a design for racing blankets (I think I know what everyone is getting for Christmas this year).

Crime in Dubai!

I know I keep saying that it's very safe here in Dubai...very low crime rate; but there is some crime in a city of 2 million folks...and my camel venture appears to be right smack in the middle of it! Read here!

A night at the Races

From November to March, Thursday night is race night at Nad Al Sheba Racetrack in Dubai (Fridays are race night at Jebel Ali Racecourse). Horse racing is a big business in Dubai. The local royalty is passionate about it and their GoDolphin Stables have some of the best horses racing around the world (they won at least 4 of the 10 races Thursday night).

Ricky and I decided to take in a night at the races this week. We eschewed some friendly advice about taking a taxi and drove to the track...probably a mistake first time out, since we got a little turned around and arrived a little late. Plus, you have to park in the public parking and take a bus to the track. Parking and Admission are free, unless you want access to the bar or dining area. In hindsight, we are a very short taxi ride and will probably take the taxi next time out.

Since we were late, we missed the big contest for the night, which is the Pick 7. You fill out a card and pick the winners of the first 7 races (3 winners, split $50,000 Thursday night). The contest is free--there is no gambling at the track; unless you have a friendly wager amongst your friends. I took 10 dirhams ($2.70) off Ricky since my horse bettered his in 3 of the 5 races we watched.

Unlike in the US, since there is no gambling, children are allowed at the track. And lots of families show up. There is a childrens play area and clowns. Since admission is free, many of the laborers attend the festivities. They put blankets out on the lawn and have picnics and play cards.

We paid 50 dhm ($14) to access the Trackside Bar, which was actually about 50 meters from trackside. Hopefully before the season is over, I plan to get a date or friends and try the dining room ($100). It's supposed to be very nice.

The season ends in late March with the Dubai World Cup...the richest horse race in the world. I will probably skip it this year, but next year I think it will be something very special. (Are you reading, JX? Plan on a trip to Dubai next March). Next November they are opening the new Meydan Racecourse, currently under construction right outside the front door of Nad Al Sheba. The place is huge and should be first class. As soon as the current season ends, the Nad Al Sheba facility will disappear and become the track area for the new grandstand.

Even without the pleasures of 'playing the ponies' it was a very nice relaxing evening.

PS: In the photos, it looks a little foggy, but it's actually dust--we got hit with a sandstorm Tues night and even 5 days later, the sky is still very dusty and hazy.

A Fool and His Money

I have been looking for ways to invest and make a little extra money while I'm here. Real Estate seems a little out of my reach...and has the potential to be downwardly volatile. An online business? Maybe, but there is alot of red tape for any business you set up here. Stocks? Possibly...I think things will bottom out soon. I could sell my Tundra...there is a potential for a little profit.

Anyway, after some looking around, I decided that my money would be better spent joining a Camel Racing Syndicate. Ok, when you get the tears of laughter out of your eyes, read on. Our class room instructor, Luke, was the instigator. He lives in Al Ain (think driving Columbus-Atlanta for work) which is a camel hotbed. He found 15 of us willing to part with 2500 dhms ($670) and with the help of a camel trainer, found and purchased our first camel, Sandy, for a little less than 20k dhms ($5400).

Sandy is a native Emarati camel (big plus) who has just started racing. His first race he finished 2nd; then in a tougher class finished 4th in his second race (our trainer also had the winner in this race). We have already been offered twice what we paid for the camel. Continued success should drive that price up.

It's not really a hands on syndicate yet. I haven't seen him race; don't know when he races, and I get alot of my info 2nd and third hand. We are hopeful of continued success and are investigating incorporating into a real business and we will have to decide on officers.

Anyway, stand by for more. Hopefully, I can get some pics of the young stud and maybe even see him race.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly...

Hi Folks. Finally catching up after a few days back in the States. The highlight was seeing the kids--especially the Father-Daughter Dance. Jules and I had a very nice evening together. We waltzed and learned a couple other dances. I tried to teach her a little Cha-Cha and Tango. And of course, I had to join her for the Electric Slide and a couple more modern dances. No Boot Scoot Boogie though, what's up with that? Ok, that was the GOOD.

Racked up another handful of Skymiles on Delta...and I earned them this time. As I mention in the title of this blog, DXB to ATL is a 16 hour flight. And I got to do that time with my personal entertainment system on the fritz--no movies to kill time. Plus the flight is all at night, so the cabin is dark and I probably would have been thrown overboard if I turned on a light to read. Since the flight was full, moving was not an option. So it was a pretty mind-numbing flight. The BAD.

The return flight was better. Shorter (14 hrs), empty seat beside me, and all systems in working order. We were graced by the presence of Mr. UGLY on the flight. As we were boarding and settling in, a solo mother with 2 babies, one about 18 mos., the other about 6 mos., was stuggling with both kids taking turns screaming if they didn't have her undivided attention. Of course, she had broken the cardinal rule when dealing with young kids--don't EVER let them out number you! But I suppose it's sometimes unavoidable. Several passengers and crew tried to help equalize the numbers, but the kids just wanted Mommy. Time for the big UGLY ass in seat 30G to chime in. UGLY was sitting on the window seat on the opposite side of the cabin and started letting the kids know that they were intruding in his life. UGLY actually yelled at the kids a couple times, "For Christ's sake, shut up!" and when one of the kids started gagging from crying so hard he added "Good, I hope he chokes." All of this happened while the plane was still on the gate. At that point I was rooting for the kids to wail away for hours--and they did not disappoint. I saw UGLY complaining to the flight attendant about the kids during the meal service, but I don't know what was said. Somewhere around NYC the babies finally settled down and fell asleep and we didn't hear much from them for the rest of the flight. Last I saw of UGLY he was forcing his way up thru the passengers in Business Class so he could be first off the plane...good riddance.

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