Welcome to rascott.com
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personal site that reflects my interests in news,
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email me:
robert@rascott.com
rascott.com
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There are many other links on my AOB blog page.
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An Occasional Blog
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Previous months:
Nov - Dec 2011
Nov - Dec 2010
Nov - Dec 2009
Nov - Dec 2008
Nov - Dec 2007
Nov - Dec 2006
Nov - Dec 2005
Nov - Dec 2004
Dubai based Airine bloggers
TampaxTowers Egypt Thailand Blogs Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
-
not really a blog but always up to date on Bangkok news
Thai
Girl The exotic adventures of a literary
sexagenarian.
Thai Films
Asia Unbound - CFR
Dubai Blogs
dxbae
- picture blog - also Gerald Donovan
The Gulf Blog
Grumpy
Goat Arabic affairs blogs
The Arabist
Hong Kong Blogs In China: Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghaiist.com
Hong Kong Cinemagic Chinageeks
In Singapore: Xiaxue - self-confessed mean, bitchy, sex goddess who says "wah" a lot!
Mr Brown
- colourful commentary from Singapore
In Burma:
In Canada:
Media:
Tabloid
Watch (UK) Aviation: Amadeus (airline schedules) Airline meals - see it b4 you eat it!
Airliners
- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive Planenation - commercial aviation news Airchive - a web museum of commercial aviation.
CrankyFlier - mainly US commentary
Sharjah -
1937
KPAE - Paine Field Blog
Johnny Jet News: The Guardian - UK
Arabian
Business Bangkok info sites: Worthy Sites:
Rconversation - from Rebecca
MacKinnon, ex-TV reporter-turned-blogger.
Golf Sites:
Fun Sites:
Fun signs
Cooking
Technology Ideas:
Stuff -
gadgets
TNooz - Travel Tech
ViralBlog
Photography
The Rest:
Black
Flamingo - recipes and life (no golf!)
Author
Robert Scott lives and works in Dubai; born in England I have since lived in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. I am very happily married to Tai.
If you want to know more you only need to ask! ask.
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30 June 2012 Three tweets in a row on my timeline about Emirates Airline: Laura_Millerx: Never flying emirates again what an unhelpful unaccomodating airline. Absolute joke what's happened today HHShkMohd: Emirates Airlines is a model for the rest of our national companies. It started locally and succeeded internationally... HHShkMohd: Emirates Airlines is a development success story and a national accomplishment. It serves our children and the future generations... Hmmmm - the view of a customer and the views of the owner! 25 June 2012 Sorry I have been quiet - traveling! Alex and I at le Rosey for his end of year celebrations.
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****************************** Bring a plane down your street - brilliant advertising from British Airways.... Still no sign of my coffee drowned laptop which is still in the repair shop.
***************************** Second game in three days after a Sunday fourball match which we won by one hole on the 18th.
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****************************** Aung San Suu Kyi delivered her Nobel Lecture in Oslo, Norway, today; in receipt of the Nobel Peace Price awarded to her in 1991. A truly remarkable leader. Her lecture can be found here. It is humble, gentle, optimistic and without anger or bitterness.
*********************************
The cut of low 60 and ties fell at
8-over 148 with 72 players – 69 professionals and three amateurs –
advancing.
Among the players eliminated at 149 who
in past years would have kept playing were Masters champion Bubba Watson,
Masters runner-up and 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, 2009
U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover, disabled golfer Casey Martin, and Dustin
Johnson, the most recent winner on the PGA Tour. After two rounds Furyk, Toms and Woods share a two shot lead at 1 under par. I am not sure that this is the sort of tournament that either players of spectators want to see -McDowell who after rounds of 69 and 72 is two behind said: “My day was equally as un-enjoyable as yesterday...it’s just tough to have fun out there, I got to be honest with you. It’s just a brutal test of golf.” 14 June 2012 Bye bye Harry Redknapp; the manager is never bigger than the club that he works for....
**************************
The A380 deployment planning is as
follows: 13 June 2012
Coming to a movie theatre near you in
November - Flight.
************************** And an FG1 who likes to turn up early at the airport to read her manuals. That person does not exist. 12 June 2012 On television this evening - the 1969 movie "Battle of Britain" - great cast - some fabulous flying scenes and careful historical accuracy. Some of the sub plots are a bit unnecessary but do attempt to show how life continued during the war. I do remember being fairly terrified by the movie. Too many horrible ways to die; plenty of blood. I always remembered one shot where a pilot's head appears to explode all over the windscreen. The German crews flying Heinkels were incredibly brave - these were slow old bombers with little defence. Without fighter escorts they were almost target practice. I was always interested in this time - as my grandmother lived in Hawkinge, Kent. The aerodrome there was the closest air base to occupied France - just ten minutes flying time - so was at the forefront of the Battle of Britain. In the last twenty years the airfield has been converted to a housing estate. However, the Kent Battle of Britain museum is still based there. http://www.kbobm.org/index.htm 11 June 2012 England v France in Euro 2012. Finished 1-1. It was pretty average.
************************ Peggy and Don reunite by chance in a cinema. Don is still grouchy that Peggy got successful and left him. It is a strangely weak meeting for two of the strongest characters in the show. The saviour of the episode - the theme to "You Only Live Twice"...at the end...and the big question for Don: "Are You Alone?" - how he replies will determine the course of next season. Meanwhile True Blood is back for Season 5. Pam: "I'm wearing a walmart sweat suit for y'all - if that's not a demonstration of team spirit I don't know what is" Jessica is back! And looking good. But there are too many characters - too many different story lines. And we cant be shocked anymore. 10 June 2012 Good fun at the rebuilt Edgbaston cricket ground today with Tino Best making 95 - by some distance the highest ever test match score by a number 11 - and he loved every minute of it - making England look very ordinary. But then the teams come off for bad light. They lost the first two days to rain. The stadium has floodlights. And test matches can be played under lights. So why come off for bad light? People have paid gbp43 each to watch a day's cricket. Let them watch a full day. The only thing that should stop play (assuming there are lights) is rain (or snow!!).
************************** The Spanish economy Minister says that it is not a rescue - trying to portray this as a loan in the normal course of business. Nonsense. 8 June 2012 Old Jokes Home: The past, present and future walk into a bar. It was tense.
******************************** Isn't that what he said in 2006. There are no warnings given for a coup!
********************************* Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer, is on probation after carrying out an unauthorized operation in Iraq. As a result, she has been reassigned to the Counter terrorism center. Whilst in Iraq, she was warned that an American prisoner had been turned by Al-Qaeda. When Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine Sergeant, is rescued after being held hostage since 2003, she suspects that he is the turned American prisoner. Brody is received home as a war hero, so Carrie goes to any lengths possible, ignoring protocol, to catch him out.
And that simple plot concept gets drawn
out for 12 episodes and is still not solved by the end of the series. I
thought it started stronger than it finished - after 12 episodes of
leading us to believe that Brody was some kind of terrorist plotting
against the American establishment, it turns out that Brody is ... some
kind of terrorist plotting against the American establishment. But that no
one can catch him or blow his cover. Very few questions were answered. Who is the security mole? Who has the take that Brodey made? It would be a shame if they drag this plot line out for ever. Carrie Mathison is interesting enough to find other cases and threats to pursue. Meanwhile Claire Danes and Damian Lewis both won Golden Globes in January where they won Best Actress and Best Actor. 7 June 2012 Latest from Thailand: Thailand edges toward major constitutional crisis as Attorney General sides with govt, parliament while opposition backs Constitution court. 5 June 2012 It is not hard to see why the big name golfers from Europe all migrate to the US tour. Money and crowds. Thongchai Jaidee won the Welsh Open at the Celtic Manor course lat weekend. The crowd was a few hundred people and a few thousand sheep. Meanwhile in Ohio Tiger Woods won the Memorial in front of tens of thousands of delirious fans; beating a world class field at the same time.
****************************** But it had its moments! There are lots of pictures here. Grace Jones is 64! Really. And she hula hooped through Slave to the Rhythm. Very odd. Wishing the Queen a Happy Birthday suggests Ms Jones had not read the script. Rolf Harris - well he had to be there. What was Chris Patten doing sitting next to Prince Charles in the Royal Box? Head of the BBC board of trustees could be the answer. Tom Jones' best known song is about a wife killer - weird. Why, why why? The DoE was taken ill and could not attend. Probably in hospital watching EastEnders reruns. Ob-la-di Ob-la-da was always a crap song. Highlights of the show: Lang Lang - no, no not a giant panda! And Madness playing from the roof of Buck House - Our House and It Must be Love....with some great graphics projected onto the front of Buck House.
**************************
*************************** 4 June 2012 OK - the queen's booze cruise down the river Thames was quite a sight. But 10 hours of coverage on SKY - and some appalling cloying humourless commentary was gruesome - And it was no better on the BBC or CNN. It is like all the reporters are in a contest to see who gets the first OBE... Some comments from twitterland: "Seems we all agree on terrible BBC coverage. Low grade, celebrity driven drivel. How did Beeb get it so wrong"
"Which is worse, the heavy rain falling
on the flotilla along the Thames or the BBC's dreadful coverage of this
Royal Jubilee event?" "Has the BBC ever presented a more mind-numbingly tedious programme in its history? "HRH the queen" said the first ignorant presenter. HRH?".
***************************** The question is can Don and Megan survive? 3 June 2012
"Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the
Free, 1 June 2012 Thailand looks like it is headed for conflict again. This week was just foreplay - it was also a message from those who think they run the country that even though they are unelected they still get to say what happens in Parliament - shocking really. This week the Democrats in Parliament assaulted the speaker and created chaos in Parliament. This was not while debating a bill; this was about deciding whether a bill - ironically a reconciliation bill - should be heard. Outside the Dems allies - the PAD, yellow and multicoloured shirts today stopped MPs from even attending Parliament. The police did nothing. The Democrat Party's name is tarnished. Abhisit should condemn these acts instead he condones and support them. So the PAD stopped parliament from being in session to discuss a law that would not even be needed if it were not for the 2006 coup. And the leader of that coup is now the proposer of the reconciliation bill in Parliament. Crazy. But the PAD and their allies are radical; in and out of parliament the PAD think they are protecting the nation. There is little doubt that violent means will be used by both PAD and Democrats to achieve their aims. The government should get tough but it wont. The police and military should work in tandem but they wont. A standard should be set for parliament to do its work; instead parliament is held hostage. The bill is a mess. At a minimum it must not be a money bill handing Thaksin back his cash. But what this week is telling us is that any changes to the laws, constitution, need the consent of the non elected PAD and the minority Democrats. 31 May 2012
Old Jokes Home: 30 May 2012 "it seems churlish to point out that awarding great privileges and pseudo-medieval deference to members of an otherwise undistinguished Anglo-German family ill befits a nation that wants to see itself as democratic, meritocratic and modern."
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29 May 2012
More evidence of delays in Emirates
A380 deliveries:
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******************************* Put tt down to laziness and/or lack of inspiration. Tai and I did go over to Bangkok for a few days. But these short trips for just a few days are tiring.
****************************** But at the moment it is a very sterile attempt to recreate the Suan Lum night bazaar. There is a food court - but other restaurants are in a soft opening or not open at all. Disappointing. Access is by road or by a courtesy boat from Saphan Thaksin pier.
******************************* I try to ignore it - after all it is just one year closer to my bus pass..... And I removed my birthday from being published on facebook so there are no reminders for people. Alex called. And Dennis took me out for a boys night in Bangkok in the evening. Mainly our surprisingly close games of pool.
********************************* You cant walk on any of the pavements in the main parts of the city and either the BMA or police have rented out every part of the pavement to street traders. And on Sukhumvit every other street trader is now selling porn videos and sex toys....it is not discreet. Pratunam is impossible to walk through. But that is true even in the malls where Thais have perfected the art of walking incredibly slowly and without any apparent purpose. It is hot, humid. Traffic is worse now than it has ever been. And new malls, condo blocks and hotels are being built without any improvements to access and infrastructure. It is gridlock.
22 May 2012 Which is what I have been trying to argue. But there are some strange people in twitterland in Thailand who enjoy black and white and see no shades of grey. 21 May 2012 Melissa Chan was Al Jazeera's respected English language reporter in China - until the Chinese kicked her out for no apparent reason - and they have been especially unpleasant about her in the media subsequently - but here in her final commentary on leaving China is the country summed up in a sentence: "China is a country of contradictions. One minute you marvel at the speedy transformation, the new wealth, the great hope of many. Another minute, and in this case powerfully felt because it can all happen in one day, you're disgusted by the corruption, the systemic problems of a one-party authoritarian state, and the trampling of individual human rights and dignity." This note from the WSJ might help to put her departure from China into perspective:
"Foreign journalists are facing the
worst environment in China in the past 20 years, said James McGregor,
chairman of the U.S. government relations committee for the American
Chamber of Commerce.
******************************* Flight from DXB to SYD - departs at 02.15. So here is what a crew member has to do.
Start to prepare. 23.00 18 hours from home to Sydney hotel. Rest allocated to crew in crew rest area - 2 hours 50 minutes. Note that flight deck rest is 6 hours.
********************************* I wonder how many of these fines are actually paid.
********************************** In the end Thaksin is establishment - just new money rather than old. And the promises that he gave to the red shirt movement are empty words - he has sold them out for his own fortune.
********************************** 20 May 2012 Well done Chelski. Winners of the European Championship after penalties last night in Munich.
******************************* He takes the answers of who really downed the Pan Am flight to his grave. 18 May 2012 Good job from Andrew Strauss with a test century against the West Indies.
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********************************* 17 May 2012 American Idol latest - down to three and I think it will be Jessica that goes - leaving the two guys in the final....actually at this point I dont care - for the last three in the contest - they are all good but nothing that makes me jump up and say that I want more. 16 May 2012 The England squad for the Euro championship in Ukraine and Poland next month (under Roy Hodgson) is:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), Rob
Green (West Ham), John Ruddy (Norwich) Summary - pray that Hart is not injured; solid at the back; too many holding midfielders; not enough pace and creativity and limited options up front where Rooney is suspended for the first two group games.
************************** He really does need his own talk show! 15 May 2012 Acts of God: Hollande's plane turns back to Paris after being hit by lightening en route to Berlin - Presidential source
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Season 5 will pick up right where
season 4 left off, with Sookie holding Tara in the kitchen.
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****************************** This was the strangest of his comments: As for congestion, Griffiths plays down the existing problems highlighted by the media, but makes clear the company’s intentions to come up with a plan. “First of all there is a very limited problem,” he says. “Of course holding delays are undesirable both from a passenger perspective and a fuel consumption perspective, but they are unfortunately part of life at most busy airports around the world. Dubai has largely escaped them up to now, and at the moment they are of a very limited impact to a small number of people.” So in response I posted the following which I am sure will get no reaction at all....
Mr Griffiths must sleep very early as
he may not have seen the late night arrivals rush hour at DXB. To describe
this as a very limited problem is badly understated. From about 11.30pm to
1.00am there are planes going in circles to the north west of DXB over the
sea, to the north of Dubai over RAK and to the east of Dubai over Fujairah.
It is not much better between 5am and 7am in the morning. Sometimes
flights simply move from one hold to the next. Add just an element of poor
weather and the delays get worse. The trouble is DXB only allows a single
runway for landing (12L or 30L). At peak arrivals times there are very few
planes departing so the second runway is largely unused. 14 May 2012 The capacity for football to entertain, amaze and break hearts was never displayed better than yesterday - here is Paul Merson losing it on Sky:
13 May 2012 Paul Kruman in the New York Times on the potential crash of the Euro:
"Some of us have been talking it over,
and here’s what we think the end game looks like:
********************************* Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and an entourage of about 50 businessmen left for Bahrain Sunday for a visit between May 13-15. They departed on a special Thai Airways International flight at 12.50pm for Manama airport where the prime minister will be received by her Bahraini counterpart HH Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Ms Yingluck said before leaving she had invited Thai businessmen to join her on the visit for talks with their Bahraini counterparts on a number of issues including trade, investment, construction, finance, energy and security. One nation that oppresses freedom of speech visits another - they are strange but maybe unsurprising bedfellows. They deserve eachother. Sadly. *************************** Nails it. 10 May 2012
Old Jokes Home Jake Needham in a tweet to me today "ALL life is in the editing, and none of us really want anybody to see the parts that we've cut..." He may well be right!
************************ 8 May 2012
Emirates has further postponed planned
Airbus A380 service resumption on flights to Johannesburg and Seoul
Incheon. Also, planned 4th Daily A380 to London Heathrow is also pushed
back as well.
************************* The latest is an underwater hotel. You have to pray that the hotel is constructed to better quality that many of Dubai's newer apartments or people will be having a very wet night. 7 May 2012 Changing times? And bad news for conservatives and proponents of austerity across Europe. Sarkozy loses the presidential vote in France and becomes the first French President to be removed after one term since Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, in 1981. 3 May 2012 THAI Airways’ newest lower-cost venture, Thai Smile Air (www.thaismileair.com) is scheduled to make its inaugural flight on Jul 7 to its first (and currently its only) destination—Macau. Meant to compete with regional giant Air Asia, Thai Smile Air’s introductory prices to the gambling island start from B6,230 roundtrip, inclusive of taxes and surcharge. Thai Smile Air (TSA??) will provide a snack box for every passenger.
Thai Smile Air will start flying to
Krabi and Suratthani in August, and Phuket and Chiang Mai in September. Rumours - Emirates is apparently refusing anymore A380 deliveries. At least for the moment. Why? The issue of compensation for down time due to the wing root problems has not been resolved. 1 May 2012 Mad Men - reviewed here - and still the best show on tv: this is from the review of episode 6. "While other shows would be hard pressed to find enough revelation and drama in those events to make for a really satisfying hour of television, Mad Men operates something like a pair of compasses, the fractional movement of one arm creating wide, sweeping curves at the other. Don’s in-laws didn’t just come to visit, they came to spit at his bourgeois achievements and er, spit out something else altogether. Megan didn’t only save an account, she took a step forward in the trail blazed by women like Peggy in the workplace, albeit diffidently. Peggy didn’t just move in with her boyfriend, she joined a generation that rejected accepted norms. And finally, that wasn’t just a fancy party, it was a really fancy party, in what Sally discovers is a really dirty city." Emirates stuff: AviationReporter.com takes a tour of the Emirates training centre. His report is here - and a larger collection of pictures are here.
**************************** If Man City win their last two matches the premiership is theirs. Though do not expect Newcastle to make it easy for them on Sunday. For Etihad this was remarkable publicity - the match commentator said that the match was being shown live in 212 countries around the world. Which starts to make their investment look very good value indeed.
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******************************** "So with the Premiership starting next weekend it is time to get out the crystal ball. Champions: Manchester United Relegated: Norwich, Swansea and Aston Villa. Promoted from the Championship (honestly - who knows - this is the hardest division of all to get out of - upwards at least) - Leicester City, Leeds and Ipswich in that order. Ipswich through the play-offs. Come back here in May and see whether I am even close." Yes - not even close !
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