The Dubai Jazz Combo Showcase

On Stage with The Dubai Jazz Combo

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25th May, "Peace of Mind in a Chaotic World" - by Wayne Yusuf Estes

www.innerpeacedubai.com

The Event: Peace of Mind in a Chaotic world- Talk followed by Q & A
Speaker: Wayne Yusuf Estes [www.innerpeacedubai.com/estes]
Date and Time: 25th May, Wednesday at 7:30 pm
Registration: Pre- register FREE at www.innerpeacedubai.com
Venue: Conference Center Auditorium , Knowledge Village (Near Block 2A)
Location Map: Available at www.innerpeacedubai.com

Rulers of Dubai and Qatar - Swimsuit Edition

Circa 1980?

Old photo from here.

Something about the hat, the shirts, the chest hair suggests Festrunks from Saturday Night Live.

BakeFestDXB returns!

Craving for something sweet? Want to throw caution to the wind and tuck into some baked goodness?

Then you need to come down to #BakeFestDXB - the event for community bakers here in Dubai. We had a lot of fun when we did it last year, and we're going to hold it again at the new and improved Wild Peeta which can accommodate a LOT more people.

So if you're hankering for some homemade cakes, pies, cupcakes, and other melt-in-your-mouth wonders, then book your attendance via the Facebook or Twitter links below. We are all booked out for tables, but you are still more than welcome to come down and buy some of the wicked treats on sale :)

Need a recap of last year? Video here, photos here, here, here, here, and here.


RSVP through Facebook or Twitter!

Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF Episode 3

More groundbreaking television content....

Obviously after bagging on the consumption of alcohol in a previous episode, they logically visit a night club to go clubbing which obviously the first place you go to where alcohol is definitely not consumed under any circumstances.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSmDXjbVR9k
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw1pjgQVdos
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVLy-9GZXqE
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZTDKeSrqIk
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5uJveU_ndM

On the Capture of Osama Bin Laden...

The question is not whether or not Pakistani officials knew about the whereabouts of Bin Laden, but why were they harboring him. Obviously, he was being kept safe in an ISI safehouse. The US was being taken for a ride for all these years. Good on Pakistan and shame on the US for being so feckless up till now.

Sorry, I know not UAE news, but its a story with some relevance here nonetheless--we're part of the larger geopolitical sphere.

Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF EPISODE 2

Almost as sought after as Episode 3 (of a completely different series on a different continent involving a crowbar)... here comes episode 2 of Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF where Paris Hilton's only limit is... your answer in the comments

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFrmem0W91E
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NboHvK2Kww
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMF4-VBQQ0

James Bond in Dubai in a game

Late last year Goldeneye 007 was released for the Wii, it interestingly features a segment of its story in Dubai.

Not much to see here, the game is completely devoid of kandouras or pretty much any cultural content (at all) that I can see, and lots of terrorists at the Annual Military Arms Fair in Dubai (at least according to this there's an Annual Military Arms Fair in Dubai... and its filled with terrorists)

Interesting to watch if you're interested in the not interesting. (some random walkthrough on YouTube of the level)

Almaz by Momo

And so, we tiptoed through Harvey Nichols, and the leprechauns behaved impeccably. I cannot say the same for Hambone, who kept on looking at the prices on the menswear, and exclaiming altogether too loudly, "Nine-Hundred Dirhams for a T-SHIRT? Are you KIDDING me?" Embarrasing. Even the children were unimpressed, and walked faster in an "I'm not with him..." kind of way. We had to ask where Momo was - it is tucked away, in the far right corner of the very top floor - just past the gold-plated hand towels and diamond-encrusted soap dishes. We arrive at Almaz, fittingly, the arabic word for 'diamond', but for me, it is always Momo - because the name reminds me of Greg Malouf's Melbourne restaurant - and my introduction to a love affair with Moroccan food.

On a Friday at 1pm, it's quiet - blissfully so. The cavernous interior is dimly lit with trios of large baubles encased in Saracenic star-patterned crochet. All chairs are plush - the children want to sit on the stage area, which is in the shape of a majlis, and has circular tin tabletops patterned in reflection of the lights. But they are for drinking only, says the waitress - the seats are too low. Instead we are led over the painted floor to a couch and armchairs, and Goldilocks proceeds to erect a cushion-castle while we order fruit mocktails and lemon and mint juice.

Read more on the hedonista here...

Geekfest Dubai returns!

And it's going to be the last Geekfest at The Shelter before it moves to the glitz and glam of Media City.

So come and have some fun with complete strangers, and attend talks, play games, and put faces to Twitter handles.

Details of course can be found over at Fake Plastic Souks - see you there!

Five Emiratis held for threatening UAE security

"Abu Dhabi: Five Emiratis have been arrested on charges of endangering the country's security and undermining the public order, it was announced on Monday.
UAE Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish said the Emiratis were arrested on the order of the public prosecution and were questioned in the presence of their lawyers.
He said that Ahmad Mansour Ali Abdullah Al Abd Al Shehi, Nasser Ahmad Khalfan Bin Gaith, Fahad Salem Mohammad Salem Dalk, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, all Emiratis, and Ahmad Abdul Khaleq Ahmad who does not carry identification papers, were held in custody for investigation on charges of committing crimes of instigation, breaking laws and perpetrating acts that pose a threat to the state security, undermining the public order, opposing the government system, and insulting the President, the Vice-President of the UAE and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi."

--more here: Gulf News: Five Emiratis held for threatening UAE security

Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF

Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF was filmed in Dubai last year but was never released because of legal problems.

You can now enjoy the show via the youtubes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LxHPArq25o (this is the link for part 2 of the first episode, the first part is stupid.)

Best show ever?

EDIT:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CFg5CWQlpg
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LxHPArq25o
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mMeo6Zo5dQ
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZk6d36xEVA
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG__YKgNJ34
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpEWI1zSOXI
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VXJJ_wlO7M

EDIT 2:
I must announce to the world that this TV show is the first to not feature any Dubai stereotypes.

TEDxAbuDhabiU - Dare to...

I thought some of you might be interested in this. This is the press release announcing TEDxAbuDhabiU.

"Abu Dhabi university is proud to announce that the first ever TEDxAbuDhabiU will be hosted on its campus in Abu Dhabi on 23 April 2011 from 10am to 3pm.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. TEDx, one of its spin-off initiatives, offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world. In this spirit, a group of dedicated people from all over the UAE have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for more than four months to bring TEDxAbuDhabiU home to the UAE.

The TEDxAbuDhabiU theme for 2011 is “Dare to…”, and you are invited to come and listen to people who have taken the dare to create their lives in the way that they want to live and to explore ways in which they could dare to dream. Over the course of five exciting, entertaining, and inspiring hours, you will have the opportunity to not only hear about people doing extraordinary things, but to also be with them as they dare to explore the emotions and motivations that propelled them through the joys and challenges of creating their lives. And ultimately the question is, what will you dare to do in your life?

Speakers at TEDxAbuDhabiU 2011 include regional and international personalities, thinkers and artists such as Aida Al Busaidy, Ahmed Arshi , Alia Yunis, Dan Stuart, Ghassan Al Katheri, Jacqueline Ghose, Jonathan Ali Khan, Laurel Moore, Magnus Nystedt, Omar Samra, Sarah Mavrinac, Taryam Al Subaihi, Ali Al Shamsi, and Sumayyah Al Suwaidi."

The Source

When I first came to Dubai for a little look-see with my husband, a weekend break to decide if we could ever live here, we were taken around by a French Relocation Expert. This was in 2007, when Dubai was heaving in every imaginable direction - up, out, down, in. The hopes and dreams were even higher than the skyscrapers they were designing, and every man and his dog wanted their piece of the Dubai pie. The population was greater than it is now, and everyone was living in half the number of dwellings. Laborers were working 14 hours a day in 47ºC heat, then being shipped home to the labour camps in cattle trucks. House maids were being paid 500AED a month to work 16 hours, 7 days a week. Beautiful women were flying in from all over the globe to try and land themselves a Sheikh, prostituting themselves, knowing that just a small hand-out could set them up for life. Corruption was rife - the options to recieve an invitation to buy land were being sold for millions, because Cityscape product was sold out in a matter of minutes. Everyone was flipping and tripping, morals slipping, taking their turn on the harem-scarem magic carpet ride.

Nadira had told us we must "swallow our snake" to live in Dubai. I think it must be a French saying that does not translate well, but I will always remember it. She said that this was a land of golden opportunity for the ones who were already blessed with opportunity, but it was a den of iniquity for those who were not. We would love it here, but only if we walked around with our eyes closed. (She was shortly thereafter sacked, probably to blissfully return to the land of the banned burqa and 7-hour work days)

She was right. People like me would die in this environment if we did not have the luxuries we receive to prop us up. We are simply not meant to live in the desert. And so, if we decide to stay here, we must wear the guilt. First, we must accept that our environmental impact is unforgivable, but unavoidable. Halas - it is done. Second, we merge our values with the local ones - we take a maid, we stop double-taking when we see workers in the sun in mid-summer from our air-conditioned SUVs. Things will improve Insha'Allah, and it becomes something that has nothing to do with us.

I've already touched on this in my 'Despicable Me' post. Don't think for a moment that because I am a Jumeira Jane, I am walking around oblivious to the greater problems of this world, just because I blog about free range eggs and organic farmers markets. It's far from the truth. I think about my greater transgressions daily, but the more I think, the more helpless I feel, the worse I feel for doing nothing. Then my own life interrupts me. I have to pick up the kids, do the shopping, help with homework, give a swimming lesson, cook the dinner, put the kids to bed, call my mum. By the time I think about the world again, it is time for a glass of wine, and that helps me forget all about it. Snake swallowed.

A place where I can make decisions on my impact, whether it be global or local, is what food I provide my family with. And so when I was given the opportunity to visit the Abu Dhabi Organic Farm (the retail outlet is named Al Mazaraa), I excitedly packed Lion into the car for the journey. I had read this article recently, as well as having a comment from an anti-local reader on my Farmers Market post, and I wanted to see what the deal was, ask the questions, do the math, and make my own decisions. Not only that, I wanted my son to see the impact and method of farming in the desert.

read more on The Hedonista here...

Ahmed Mansour, Fahad Al Shehhi & Dr Nasser bin Ghaith Arrest Analysis

Here's some interesting stuff...

"Context on arrest of Dr Nasser bin Ghaith in the UAE:

MANSOOR UPDATE
1. Since writing on Saturday http://www.twitlonger.com/show/9ogqrh with regard to the arrest of Ahmed Mansoor, the UAE’s internal dynamic has shifted.
2. The first arrest of @Ahmed_Mansoor was met with mixed responses by the UAE community, much of it based on speculation as to why he was arrested.
3. There were three types of criticism against Mansoor. A common accusation circulating, that Mansoor frequently directly criticised the ruling families is one that is enough, in the legal system, to merit an arrest.
4. Reuters has just reported that the arrest was related to a possession of alcohol, again an illegal act for a citizen. However, that Mansoor was both expecting the police well in advance and had called them formally after security outside his apartment showed up, leaves unanswered questions as to that charge.
5. Another type of criticism levelled against Mansoor was attributable to questions of loyalty, of Iranian origins i.e. loyal to Iran, or that he belonged to the Ikhwan. These accusations swiftly became redundant on the basis of subsequent arrests."

--more here: Twitter: @habibahmed

(link via Emirates Economist)

"The arrests over the last week of three pro-democracy activists in the United Arab Emirates should come as no surprise. Having sent troops to participate in the Saudi-led crackdown in Bahrain and having supported Egypt's Hosni Mubarak until his final days in office, the UAE regime has already signaled its strong preference for the status quo and its fear of greater Arab freedoms.

Previously a collection of federated, tribe-based, traditional monarchies, led by the well-liked Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan until his death in 2004, the UAE has since been morphing into a sophisticated police state led by Zayed's two principal sons from their Abu Dhabi power base -- the UAE's oil-rich, wealthiest emirate. Unlike their father, who had to consult with other tribal elders and powerful merchants across the entire country, the new rulers now govern with zero accountability over an increasingly urbanized and Abu Dhabi-dependent population, the movements and communications of which are now carefully monitored and censored."

--more here: Foreign Policy: The Making of a Police State

(link via dr_davidson on twitter)

"With a tribal leader legacy, and credited with founding the UAE federation and harnessing its oil wealth for economic development, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan was generally well liked by his people. He had no real need to implement meaningful political reform during his lengthy reign. Instead the plan seemed to be to hold back this particular card so that his succeeding sons would be able to offer reform as their particular ‘gift’ to the people. However, since Zayed’s death in 2004 no such reform has taken place. Zayed’s principal sons – notably the ruler of Abu Dhabi and his crown prince/half brother – have instead played around with the UAE’s largely ineffectual Federal National Council. In 2006 elections were held for half of its 40 seats, but only a few thousand UAE nationals were eligible to vote, and even these were carefully screened. In early 2011, announcements were made that fresh elections would be held, but again the number of contested seats would be limited, only small numbers able to vote.

Seen as the final straw by many educated UAE nationals, especially given the dramatic pro-democracy revolutions sweeping the rest of the Arab world and the UAE government’s rather distasteful involvement in suppressing the Bahraini protests, two petitions were duly signed in March. Both called for universal suffrage and a fully elected national council. Some individuals went further and made public calls for a gradual shift to constitutional monarchy."

--more here: Current Intelligence: Democracy Crackdown in the UAE

(link via dr_davidson on twitter