Travelin’
April 11, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments
Been traveling this week. Stopped by to see our three offices in three days, doing training on the new software. Not really a pleasure trip – arrived at night, spent the day in the office and flew out. There is nothing like checking out of a hotel at 8AM and going into work. Hard on the wardrobe and not great for sleeping either.
Started, of course, in Dubai. Should you ever have to fly into Dubai, like me give you a hint: Dubai airport is VERY BUSY! Give yourself at least an hour from the time you get off the plane, get to Passport Control, pass Passport Control, claim your baggage and actually get into a vehicle to go to your hotel. Hell – you’re lucky if it’s only an hour. The gods, then, have been kind. Late as it was when I finally swung into my hotel (and I had not checked a bag), I still had time to go over to the Rock Bottom for my first beer in three months! Ahhhhhh…. And what goes well with beer in Dubai? KING GORILLA! Yes – my favorite local band was still rockin’ the house and getting better every day. What other band could go between Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved” and “Walk Like An Egyptian” without missing a beat? I wish them only the best of luck when they finally head back to Canada. They are a terrific bar band.
Next morning I checked out, worked and was driven to Abu Dhabi. It took about an hour and, once you passed all of Dubai’s billboards for all the fabulous things they will be building, there was desert. Forty-five minutes driving through scrubland. Nothing. I don’t know how the driver stayed awake. It must be brutal to do in the summer. Abu Dhabi is not as built as Dubai, but it is a city with aspirations. Say – Cleveland wanting to be Chicago. Not as garish nor as fast as Dubai, but hoping to grow. That night, I went to an “American themed” restaurant – which meant cowboys. The place was decked out like an old-time saloon and the wait staff wore jeans and denim vests. And they served meat (and beer). Around 9PM, not only did the Philippino cover band come on, but the “ladies” arrived. The guy at work who suggested this place mentioned there would be “ladies”, but I didn’t expect a swarm. By the time I left (like a half hour later), there were more women than men. Then I think the fighting started… These were predators – plain and simple. From the few I could understand, they were mainly from China. I was too exhausted to stick around and possibly be beaten into submission (some were muscular!). Maybe another time…
Get up. Check out. Work. Fly to Qatar. I didn’t see much of anything here. The office was near the airport and the hotel (though 5 star) was near the airport. So I didn’t see the city or the Al Jazeera building. But I did see more construction – more pounding out the stone and sand in a surge toward the 21st Century. Like the others. But Qatar is a bit behind them. So sprawling new hotels stand side by side with old tear down hotels. I can’t tell you more than that… except that Qatar Airways has the most spectacular First Class lounge I have ever been in! Perfectly designed, utterly gorgeous and peaceful. Great food and many cocktails available for free. I could fall asleep here and miss my flight. And not care…
Outside
April 5, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments
I found a community theatre.
The Kuwait Little Theatre is a local, amateur theatre that has open auditions and seems pretty active. It is located south of here is the town of Ahmadi. I don’t know where that is, how to get there or how long it would take. So my mission Friday was to gather my maps and take a drive – to go outside of the city for the first time. It looked pretty simple to get there (and, indeed, it was). Just drive south on the Fahaheel Expressway. By going out early on a Friday (roughly around noon), I was certain traffic would be minimal. This way, I could take my time and check out the terrain outside of city limits.
The expressway has two sides. The “water side” is pretty built. Lots of square, flat, orange buildings – some tall, some short. No attempt at design was made as far as I could see. Very utilitarian blocks, but populated. The other side of the highway was a different story. There were long stretches between buildings. You’d see a small cluster – then nothing. You’d see a group (10-15) half-built structures – then nothing. And when I say nothing, think right outside Vegas with less vegetation. Hard scrabble. Dusty. Barren. The other side of the highway was in a constant struggle with the desert.
So, of course, I made my turnoff into THIS side of the highway to get to Ahmadi. Imagine my surprise when I pulled into a very quaint, very green little town – which a cricket/recreation field that was well-maintained and flowers blooming all over the place! (This all may have something to do with the close proximity of oil refineries and being home to the headquarters of Kuwait National Petroleum.) I followed my map from the theatre website and came to where it should have been and pulled into one of the parking lots. I couldn’t see it. Got out of the car and walked back down the street to see if I missed a turnoff. Still didn’t see it.
As I’m walking back to the car, I looked to my left and saw a low, small green building. Barely visible through the trees was a small sign saying “Kuwait Little Theatre”. Ah, theatre people! Give us a shoe box and a flashlight and we can put on a show for you! It was closed, so I didn’t go in. For all I know, that was just a rehearsal space. But you never can tell. If you’d seen some of the places I performed…
Anyhow, it was a nice ride and I’ll have to go out next week – at night(!!!) – to check out a show.
The Planet
March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Theater | 2 Comments
One of my favorite artifacts from Boston in the 80s was a small, literary gem called The Duplex Planet. The Duplex Planet was a true independent – hand copied, stapled and delivered – and could be found at Newbury Comics or any hip record shop and book store. It was/is created, owned and operated by the talented David Greenberger. See, he had this job as cruise director at a home for elderly gentlemen and one of his first gambits was an in-house newspaper. He would “interview” the residents, asking questions like – What was your favorite party? Who was Frankenstein? What do you like better–taxes or Texas? – and he would listen, put what he heard into the paper and hand it out. But while the residents didn’t mind talking, they had no interest in reading it. However – the rest of us did. The things he heard from these gentlemen could truly astonish. Hell – no one had really talked to them for years! The Duplex Planet still lives and I have a link over yonder to check it out.
The Planet is my first full length play and is based on roughly the first 40 issues of the magazine. I felt like I knew these men. I cared about them. So I decided to put them onstage. With the play, you spend some time – the week before Christmas 1980 - with eight men in their late 60s, 70 and 80s, including one extraordinary octogenarian poet (whose works would spawn at least four compilation CDs by alternative artists). I met these men through the pages of the magazine, so The Planet follows the flow of your average issue. Some conversations, some poetry, record reviews and soliloquies. These are their words, with some of mine thrown in to glue it together.
I don’t care what anyone says – it plays the way I want it to. Posted under Written Works.
New Pictures
March 26, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 6 Comments
I’ve added some from my first tourist extravaganza in Kuwait. It’s hard to take pictures because you can’t take pictures of people. They don’t like it. At all. Even if you just happen to catch a person while taking a shot of a building. And Lord help you if you take a picture of a woman - even by accident.
What I’m saying is - it won’t be art. Check them out.
New Link
March 24, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Music, Politics | No Comments
So let me be the 5 millionth person to add the link for will.i.am’s video “Yes We Can”.
I have been re-reading Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail ‘72 lately and this is what the late, great Dr. Thompson had to say early on in the book:
“How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame but ‘regrettably necessary’ holding actions? And how many more of these stinking, double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and at least 20 million other people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?”
I hope we’re there. ‘Cause more and more these days, the Clinton crew is looking just like a bunch of crusty old political hacks.
Like Hubert Humphrey. He had experience, too…
Year Two
March 22, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 7 Comments
Well… It’s a birthday.
I started this blog one year ago today. Just to talk with folks and write about what was in my head. Who knew where we’d be today? A year ago, oil was only $65 per barrel, gas was $2.50 a gallon and Bear Stearns still existed (and I hope none of my friends from the boat were hurt in that meltdown). If you had told me a year ago I would be working in the Kuwait, I would have laughed my ass off. And, surprisingly, we actually have a historic presidential race going on in the States. I hope it stays that way. I can’t vote between two old hacks again.
I want to thank my sister for setting me up out here on one of the Inter-Webs many pipes. One of the cool things about this site is that – on the back end – I can see how many people visit and from where. So I need to send a shout out to everyone who is stopping by from Canada, France, Sweden and the Netherlands. You are nearly a third of my readers!
So – welcome. Drop a line. I hope you keep reading. The coming year looks to be interesting from every angle.
Driving In Kuwait
March 18, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments
I’m getting much better at it. Finding the groove the locals have when they drive. This week I was working on my route to the office and back. I think I have a pretty good one now. I’ve cut my near-death experiences in half!
There is ONLY aggressive driving out here. At times there are as many lanes on a road as traffic will allow. Merging is an art form. If it looks like it should be a two-lane-to-one merge, it’s really a five lane to one merge. If your car fits – go. You haven’t lived until you are passed on the right by a guy (or girl) driving on the white line between you and the person in the other lane. If there are four lanes at a stop light, any lane can make a left hand turn… if you can make it. This is the only place I have ever seen a Hummer weave in and out across three lanes of early morning local traffic. AND they do this on their cell phones. I did – once – see a police officer pull over a car. My only assumption is that either they actually hit someone or they had porn in the car. It couldn’t be for driving.
I now understand why there is no alcohol in this country. If alcohol were legal, the population would be halved in about two weeks.
Non sequitur of the month
March 17, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Music | No Comments
“Abba’s drummer found dead in his garden.”
??
Drummer?
Happy St. Patricks!
March 17, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments
It’s Monday.
You should be drinking.
Let’s talk Cable…
March 11, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments
I have 657 channels.
Only ten of them speak English (there will be ten more when the programming I paid for kicks in). Some of these are English-language news programs which include Al Jazeera, France 24 and Russia Today. The rest show occasional movies or sitcoms. I get a whole slew of Italian and French channels. There are about 100 music video channels which range from Western videos to traditional music performances from numerous countries. The two Iranian channels are music videos and they are similar to Western pop music. Arab videos are like small movies, with credits that roll after the song. There are also about five “god” channels preaching “geee-zuz” in a Muslim country. One is called “Loveworld” and you can find it in between the “sex” channels(yes - sex). The sex channels consist of pictures (or live) half naked European women asking for your phone calls. I’m pretty sure they are half naked but it is difficult to tell since the screen is filled with phone numbers. Very weird to see out here.
About 400 channels consist of “talking heads” – Arab men dressed in the traditional dishdasha and headdress talking to either each other or the camera. Since I don’t understand the language, they could be talking about business, politics, sports, religion or napkin folding. It all looks and sounds the same.
But it will be interesting to have access to programming from SO MANY countries. I can flip between Syria TV, Sudan TV, Kurdistan TV, Jordan TV, Ethiopia TV, Romania TV, Libya TV etc. etc. I watched the NART Network last night. That’s the National Adiga Radio and Television. When you go to their website, it says the channel hopes to connect “all Circassian people and their communities”. Turns out this is a culture of people found in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria who were run out of the Caucuses by the Russians hundreds of years ago.
It’s cool to have a real window on the outside world that goes beyond CNN.
Life In Kuwait
March 8, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 8 Comments
On Thursday night, I finally got to go out and see a movie. [That means I figured out the times, the places and had the night free.] I went over to the Avenues – a new mall - to see Sweeny Todd. Now, I had heard about the censorship in Kuwait. Recently, I saw an editorial in the paper decrying the fact that Charlie Wilson’s War had roughly forty cuts in it and made the movie unwatchable. But I had yet to see (or notice) any censorship… until now. It turns out they cut the parts where Sweeny cuts the throats. While I think it is better to censor violence rather than obsessing on sex, in this particular movie it is a mistake. The songs are intimately tied to the action. Once you start hacking away, you destroy the whole piece. So I had to leave.
Yesterday I had my first hair cut in Kuwait. I was pretty nervous about this. For one – you have a relationship with the person who regularly cuts your hair. You walk into the unknown when you change – especially when there might be a language barrier. Secondly – over here – men cut men’s hair. Women cut women’s hair. I don’t think a man has cut my hair more than twice since I stopped getting haircuts from my Dad. Plus – men’s hair salons (or “saloons” as it is sometimes spelt) are everywhere! How do you choose? Do you gamble like that with your hair?? Luckily, I was able to track down one expat at work who actually HAS hair and he directed me to a place he goes. There was something about the folks there being Turkish and they - or Lebanese – are the best for haircuts. I guess he was right because I’m pretty happy with it.
Lastly – it seems I have an excellent sushi restaurant in walking distance! Yes – sushi is universal. Dinner last night was perfection.
She Said What…?
March 6, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 1 Comment
In the “people who live in glass houses” catagory, I think the Hill-meister needs to kill all the talk about Obama’s indicted donor. That guy and the measly amount of cash that needed to be returned is NOTHING compared to the mammoth grocery list of shady characters the Clintons have partied with over the years. Check out this link: from The New Republic.
It may be time for Obama to mention them…
My Dominos
March 2, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments
…and for good or ill, the taste loses nothing in the 4,000 mile translation.
I’m working on some Kuwait pictures now. They should be up next week.
Guilty Pleasure
March 1, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 8 Comments
Have I mentioned that the apartment has no cable and no internet access? That latest word on that is there is no line to the building. We’re talking possibly a month before either of those items is available to me.
Now, for the past three weeks, I have been working ten hours days – six days a week. My work access is restricted, of course, but mainly – when I finally get home – I need some mindless diversion before bed. So, I have had to rely on DVDs (there is a TV, just no reception). The stockpile of “Western” DVDs in Kuwait is about as shallow as the music selection, but the intrepid shopper who keeps his eyes open at the random grocery or department store (“hyper markets”) is occasionally rewarded. Well, the most amazing bit of 70s TV culture dropped in my lap the other day. I found a DVD of three episodes from the first season of…
Are you sitting down?
The Bionic Woman! Yes – The original Bionic Woman. Lindsay Wagner in all her running, leaping glory. As members of my family will tell you, I had quite a teenage crush on Ms. Wagner for which there is no explanation. I haven’t seen this program in over 20 years. I wonder if those sparks are still there…?
« Previous Page — Next Page »