The Weather Channel

November 28, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 1 Comment

rain . . . . rain . . . rain . . . . rain . . . Rain . . lightning . . thunder . . Rain . . Rain . .Lightning . . Thunder . . Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain LIGHTNING THUNDER RAINRAINRAINRAINRAIN LIGHTNING! THUNDER!! RAIN!RAIN!RAIN! LIGHTNING!!!!! THUNDER!!!! LIGHTING!!!! THUNDER!!! RAINRAINRAINRAINRAINRAIN!!!!!!! Lightning . . . . . Thunder . . . . Rain . . . Rain . . . rain . . . rain

This describes the past 24 hours in Kuwait. We haven’t seen the sun in four days. It’s nothing unique – I just haven’t seen it in two years.

Thanksgiving

November 25, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

It’s a rainy Thanksgiving Day in Kuwait (yes- raining AGAIN!).

So the first thing I’m thankful for is making it to work alive. I promise to drive less when I get home. I also want to express my deepest thanks to Kerry and Chris, who have stood by me these past two years and even seem to want me home. I’m thankful for my family in Connecticut who have always supported me no matter how strange I get. I’m thankful for all my friends who have always been ready to raise a toast to me whenever I came home. And I’m thankful for anyone I have met along this journey who has shown me kindness.

My two favorite philosophers – Bill Hicks and Hunter Thompson – have both said that Life is a ride. This I believe . It has more than ups and downs. Life is closer to an Escher drawing in its twists and turns. It has cycles. I know many people are in a low cycle now – but keep faith. Life comes back around to find you. I am about to enter my next cycle and I have no idea what it will bring. But – that’s all part of the ride.

So tonight I will eat Danny Rose style with my frozen turkey dinner and maybe watch the Detroit Lions lose yet again. And I hope everyone out there has something/someone to be thankful for.

Saturday

November 21, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

It’s raining.

This is the second time this week. On Tuesday, it rained at the same time we were having a sandstorm. An odd rain. Not steady but huge drops would hit your windshield and explode like small buckets. Of course all the cars were instantly covered in mud. I was afraid of running out of wiper fluid. It was like being in a snow storm where all the wipers are doing is pushing the snow to one side. Only this was mud and it was rush hour (what hour isn’t “rush hour” out here?). Kind of scary.

Today was a proper rain – steady with no additives. But in a car culture like this and without rain for the past six months, to say the roads were slick is a vast understatement. Everyone was behaving themselves, though. (A unique experience.) It has been a while since I’ve driven in the rain. Brings back memories. The temps are much cooler now and the air will be fresh… for a couple of days, at least. May even have to break out a sweater.

30 Days

November 20, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 5 Comments

And I’m back in Jersey with all my luggage.

C-SPAN

November 16, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | No Comments

How many of you watch C-Span?

No one? That’s about what I thought. Why would we want to watch our elected officials make asses out of themselves in real time when John Stewart can just give us the basic stupidity without all the Boring. We KNOW nothing intelligent goes on in the Halls of Congress. We KNOW we are constantly electing guys who have less skills than your average 7-11 clerk. Why would we want that insidious reminder playing on our TV set?

Well – they have C-Span out here in the Middle East. And it’s a premium. That’s right – you have to pay EXTRA to get Democracy in action on your cable network out here. Hannah Montana? Free. Family Fat Surgeon? Free. The Ellen DeGeneres Show ? Even that is free (I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard I try…). But C-Span will cost you. And these suckers pay for it! This is where the Middle East learns how America works.

After the last few months of the Health Care debate, God help us all…

A Word About Hotels

November 12, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 8 Comments

I’m sitting in a room at the Ramada in Doha. I’m thinking I have seen the inside of a number of very different hotels in the past ten years. This is my third hotel in Qatar. I have stayed in five in Abu Dhabi, one in Dubai and spent a month in one in Kuwait. I been in a hotel in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Orlando, Philadelphia, a few in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Iowa, Milford CT and a lovely little Howard Johnson’s near the airport in L.A. (raise your hand if you’ve been there!). Hotels are strange places. They act as a little oasis in the midst of a foreign territory. They can be comforting or impersonal. Inviting or utilitarian. A home away from home or a cot and a roof – which can be true of even the most expensive hotel.

For example, the Four Seasons (see picture below) was one of the coldest (emotionally) hotels I have ever stayed at and had some of the worst modern artwork on the walls. Whereas the Ramada here is a…. Ramada. The décor is just goofy- from the walls to the furniture – and very 80s. It is lived in and downscale, yet very much alive and welcoming. The Hotel Spectra in Istanbul had two single beds and a room with a shower and a toilet. Not other space, no TV and no amenities except breakfast. Yet that breakfast – on a windowed balcony on the roof that overlooked EVERYTHING – was one of the nicest I ever had. And I spent every day and night walking around anyway, so what did I need? The room at the Venetian in Vegas had more floor space than my house and it took me over twenty minutes to get downstairs and to my meeting rooms on the first floor. The room in Paris had a bathroom where the door hit your knees, but it was in the center of everything and suited our budget. I only stay at the Burjuman Rotana in Dubai because it is connected to the office. I like it, even though with a kitchen and living room area, it is more space than I could ever take up. The Coronado in San Diego was heaven. The two hotels in Orlando I can’t even tell you about. I don’t remember anything distinctive. The Hotel Pulitzer in Amsterdam WAS luxury. But I loved better my soon to be washed away bed and breakfast in New Orleans.

Hotels are very personal. Whether they click with you or not depends on timing and activity, as much as what you want from the hotel. They fall into the category of shoes – they either feel good or they don’t. Here at the Ramada, I’m looking for life and beer and maybe a little live music later. Simplicity has its virtues.

Four Seasons

November 6, 2009 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

CIMG0265

Welcome to the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha. A quaint little family place for people longing for the simple life. Or not. The hotels out here are all very new and compete for who can be the most “high end” on the market. Had two days of meetings here – well, not me exactly. The firm did. I did a one hour presentation, had lunch and then went looking for a beer. This is the view from my room:
CIMG0258

It was a painful ordeal. That plus dinner one night at the Four Seasons and the next at the Ritz Carlton, which were good but very “nouvelle”. The definition of nouvelle cuisine is to serve five ravioli on a plate the size of a hubcap.

My boss and I made it out to one of the Irish pubs in a nearby Sheraton (every country in the world has an Irish pub. Even France!). However, Qatar instituted a new law that states you are not allowed into a drinking establishment unless you are a member. To become a member, you must either show your Qatari resident card or your passport. So we ran back to the hotel and got our passports. Still not enough. The passport would get us a membership card for that pub ONLY. We sat for our pictures, paid QR 35 ($10) and finally got in for a pint an hour later.

As you can see, it was a grueling couple of days -especially with the first class flights – but I made it through. Later I will tell you about our field trip.

Movies

November 1, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 6 Comments

As I have said before, I watch a lot of movies. Not much else to do here. I also watch a TV series or two that I have picked up along the way (such as Twin Peaks and the new Fox show Fringe, which I am enjoying immensely!). But mainly it’s movies. The cable out here is just like cable back home. There is 80% crap, 10% okay but repeated ad nauseum, and the occasional gem or two that fight their way through the dreck. Every month there is even an indie flick that was only shown at festivals that mysteriously appears.

But mostly it is DVDs and the majority of those lately have been bootlegs. So here are my capsule reviews for films I have watched recently:

The House Bunny – Very funny and very sweet. Love Anna Faris
Underworld:Rise of the Lycans – Not bad.
Doubt – Excellent performances, but I am so familiar with the playwright’s heavy hand…
Push – Eh… no.
Watchmen – So disappointing. Looks great and devoid of all life.
Wolverine – What a piece of crap.
State Of Play – Not bad. Better than I expected.
Last House on the Left – NEVER make (or remake) a horror movie with good actors. They just ruin it.
I Love You, Man – Not so much. As much as I love Paul Rudd, this did nothing for me.
Boondock Saints – What the Hell is Willem Dafoe doing??? It doesn’t matter. Good, dumb fun.
B13-Ultimatum – Sequel to the excellent “District 13”. Not nearly as good, but the fight choreography is astounding!
Star Trek – Excellent!
Knowing – Kill Nick Cage. Someone… please.
Revolutionary Road – Beautifully done, but the story is a bit small for all this work.
Drag Me To Hell – PERFECT! The BEST dumb fun!
Adventureland – Nothing was funny.
District 9 – One of the great sci-fi movies of our generation. Wow.
Role Models – A laugh riot!
Shrink – When will Hollywood learn that no one cares about them as people.
Informers – Another flick about Hollywood. The whole cast should have been shot after the opening credits.
She Creature – A mermaid movie – but one of the scariest mermaids ever.
Surrogates – Twenty minutes into this thing and I decided I was not going to waste an evening on this crap.