A Subprime Primer

This link is amazing: http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true


I feel smarter already.

No love from Saudi this year

I was kind of shocked to learn that Valentine’s Day has been banned on 90% of the land mass of the peninsula on which I reside. Apparently, all symbols of the holiday are banned, punishable by arrest.

Surely this is a gesture of defiance against the western commercialization of sexuality, which seems pretty clear on an abstract level but I find it difficult to articulate exactly what they object to on a tangible level. Is it the sale of chocolate? I think that is generally allowed in Saudi. Ditto the sale of sentimental greeting cards. And they can’t possibly be objecting to the principle of buying gifts for one’s wife/wives (what a revolt there would be if GCC women weren’t having diamonds, mahnolos, and solid gold bricks lavished on them). So is it the imagery of fleshy cupids? Is it the possibility of flirting via candy hearts between 2 unmarried, unrelated people? Is it the vestigial prefix “Saint”?

I’m hoping it’s one of the above. Otherwise my only conclusion is that the same town leaders who banned dancing and rock music in Footloose moved to Riyadh and joined forces with the Grinch to steal Valentine’s Day. Boo.

And on a more serious note, what does this mean to ban symbols of something?? Is this not a terrible can of legal worms to open? It's easy enough to say "red roses = valentine's day, so no red roses allowed" but doesn't this pave the way for next year's rule to be "anything red is a symbol of a red rose, so no red allowed" or "you're wearing a pink shirt which means you must be thinking about valentine's day, so i will arrest you" or "you're considered a social dissident so i will find something in your house that symbolically refers to a heart, a piece of chocolate, a greeting card, the color red, or the color pink, so i will arrest you." ?? Slippery slope...

pittar, patter - part two

This is what happens when it rains for 3 days in Dubai.

pitter, patter

I arrived back from New York late last night and awoke this morning to a surreal Dubai (even more surreal than normal).

There are epic traffic jams due to security sweeps of certain areas in preparation for George Bush's visit tomorrow and it was just announced that 4 major roads will be closed entirely tomorrow. This essentially cripples the city so most companies are declaring it a day off. Kind of like a snow day. Thanks Dubya, I guess?

In addition to that, it's raining cats and dogs.

So, I'm sitting on the balcony, enjoying the rain's pitter patter on the pool, feeling a little sorry for the palm trees which look quite confused and a little embarrassed to be so wet, and wondering if I'll go to work tomorrow anyway...

A Handful of Yuletide Cheer

O, Christmas tree, leeeetle Christmas tree...

Isn't it adorable?

Doha Dancing

Korean delight

Here's why I love where I live:

Tonight, I walked across the street to the Korean restaurant and enjoyed a very cheap and utterly delicious table full of spicy things next to a party of about a dozen collared korean guys who seemed to be having some sort of going-away party where they did round after round of toasts. And BOY do koreans have a funny toasting style. They stand up, start talking blah blah blah blah, then conclude their speech with about 20 seconds of very gutteral, aggressive yelling which sounds rather like they're about to storm the great wall. Then that guy sits down and the next one stands up, and round and round they go. All in all, it's excellent, if somewhat jarring, dining entertainment.

A Gem from the Archives

"The Scarlet Sirens and Their Doubly Dangerous Swords of Doom!"

Dubai, the bestest city - Part 7

Dubai has the FASTEST and MOST STYLISH firefighting force in the universe!

The Dubai municipality has recently unveiled the new fleet of fire-fighting vehicles. Here in the land of gold and luxury, no mere clunky truck will do.

Here we have the world's first, and best, fire-fighting Corvettes...




Who cares whether they can transport any water or not; the important thing is that fire victims feel they are getting the 5-star service they deserve.

Live from Singapore!

Holy giant sea creatures, batman!

The prawns here are as big as my forearm! Wish I had put something in this picture to set it to scale, but you'll just have to believe me -- you could pick one of these up and give someone a wet, smelly club to the head.

And speaking of heads, the thing in the middle is a lobster head. It is the size of my head. It was like looking into a lobster mirror.