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My photographs have been moved off this site and are now stored on Picasa. They
were simply taking up too much space on my web host.
Please use
this link to see my list of photo albums.
Airliners- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive A
Captain's Blog - the routine of a California based 767
captain FA Uniforms
- interesting collection of the old and new
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.
30 December 2011
The New Year celebration theme in
Bangkok is "Smile Up" - what on earth does that mean !
27 December 2011
David Fincher’s $100 million
budgeted adaptation of the international bestselling novel ”The Girl With
The Dragon Tattoo’ has reportedly been banned in UAE.
last year, ‘Black Swan’ and ‘Love &
Other Drugs’ both were banned from released based on their adult content.
*******************************
In Dubai last Friday two Indian workers crossing a road were mown down by
a Nissan Altima; the car was being driven by a 16year old, who had no
driving license. The car was traveling at 200kms an hour. The 16 year old
driver is described as a GCC national.
The driver faces charges of
hit-and-run, failing to provide help to victims and driving without a
licence
Sadly the GUlf news seems to justify
speeding based on the green light "Video footage provided by the Roads and
Transport Authority indicated that the driver was speeding as the light
was green."
The workers were allegedly crossing
the road despite red pedestrian lights. Which I am sure will be seen as
exonerating circumstances. Just imagine if this case was the other way
around....
26 December 2011
Good news for 31 January and the new
year celebrations around the Burj Khalifa: According to the press
releas from the RTA : "The Roads & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director
of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), announced the master plan for
the management of traffic and public transport means spanning the Dubai
Metro (Burj Khalifa Station, Financial Center Station, Business Bay
Station), public buses, and taxis during the New Year’s celebrations at
Burj Khalifa area in order to streamline the traffic flow and ease the
mobility of visitors from and to the event venue."
In other words - it will be total
chaos.
25 December 2011
Some things are best not discussed
over dinner: 8.30pm - BBC Entertainment just gave the dictionary
definition of "rimming" - my mother nearly choked on her turkey..maybe not
appropriate.
*******************************
Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, has taken delivery
of 16 new aircraft in the current fiscal year and is expected to receive
seven more planes in the next three months, a local report said on Sunday.
The planes are part of a $6.1-billion package involving the purchase of
Airbus and Boeing aircraft and it has been funded completely, the
Dubai-based Arabic language daily 'Al Bayan' said.
The new planes will boost Emirate’s total fleet to 171 aircraft by the end
of this fiscal year which ends on March 31,” the paper said.
Since April 2011, Emirates has taken delivery of 10 Boeings 777-300, five
Airbuses 380 and a Boeing 777-200 cargo aircraft.
“Seven more aircraft will join Emirates’ fleet before the end of the
current fiscal year on March 31...the company also received 19 aircraft in
2009 and 11 last year,” Al Bayan said.
24 December 2011
Santa's checkflight:
22 December 2011
Two key points on the
prosecution/persecution of John Terry:
The crown prosecution service CPS)
is clear that there is enough evidence to get convict John Terry for
racist abuse.
And the CPS believes that it is in
the public interest to prosecute.
That probably makes sense - he is
high profile; he is a public figure; if he uses the language he is accused
of he legitimises it.
Mr. Terry strongly denies the
accusations.
Why is the CPS prosecuting Terry and
not Liverpool's Suarez - because there was a complaint by a member
of the public - which makes the police duty bound to investigate.
For the Suarez case there has been
no public complaint or investigation. Instead the allegation was from
Patrice Evra; a fellow footballer. So he was investigated by an
independent panel of the Football Association....he was fined gbp40,000
and banned for 8 games.
Terry may be a pain - but he is innocent until proven guilty.
Actually I even have a little
sympathy. Go to any professional football game and the vitriol that is
launched at players and officials is shocking - and this has been ignored
by the FA (we all know what that really stands for) for decades while they
have been busy making money. Disgraceful.
But the FA is now in a moral maze.
Do they allow Terry to remain England captain while the case is ongoing?
Having taken such a strong stance on Suarez...
*************************
Kim Jong Un - now the great successor - appears to have been educated for
two years in Switzerland. From 1998 until late 2000, he lived in Liebefeld
at No. 10 Kirchstrasse, a sedate suburban street with two pizza joints, a
Credit Suisse bank and a Coop supermarket.
He was around 17 when he abruptly
left in the middle of the school year, apparently to return to Pyongyang.
Known as "Pak Un" to his teachers at Liebefeld-Steinhölzli Schule, a
German-speaking state school, he was registered with Swiss authorities as
the son of an employee at North Korea's embassy in the nearby city of
Bern, Switzerland's capital, according to Ueli Studer, director of
education in the local administration.
Throughout Pak Un's time in Liebefeld, however, neither friends nor
teachers ever met the parents. "I never saw his father or mother," said
the school's principal, Peter Burri, recalling how they repeatedly failed
to show up for parents' night.
Attending in their place, Burri
said, were assorted North Koreans who apologized for the parents' absence
and said this was due to their inability to speak German.
The reality: the boy's father didn't work in Bern at the embassy but was
more than 5,000 miles away in Pyongyang.
After leaving Europe, he is reported to have attended Pyongyang's Kim Il
Sung Military University, an officer training school, but virtually
nothing else is known about him.
21 December 2011
In addition to launching the A380 to
Melbourne EK has announced that 4 of the 5 daily LHR flights will be on
the A380 from 25th March. Everything except EK 7/8 which remains 773.
Emirates will also fly the A380 from
Dubai to Tokyo Narita from 01JUL12.
20 December 2011
One of those bad days.
Tai gets up and the first thing she
sees is her January roster - nothing that she asked for; six turnarounds
including a double sector and a roster that she miserably described as
awful.
Then there was no water; cut off due
to urgent work on the water pipes. Again. But zero notice. A Mrs that
cannot have her morning shower is to be feared.
And that set the tone for the day.
None of the above was my fault.
Really.
************************
Golfer Christina Kim - who was in Dubai for the Omega Ladies Masters last
week left this message for EK fans tonight:
"Landed in JFK!!! On my way home
tonight!! What a great flight with Emirates, always is a pleasure!!!"
**************************
flydubai will start operating direct flights to Baghdad & the city of
Najaf in Iraq from January 2012
**************************
Hillary Clinton on the continued army violence in Cairo: (it) "dishonours
the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a
great people."
Well spoken.
**************************
More nonsense from our building management prompting this letter to the
owners association board:
"Dear Board Member,
There is an urgent shut down of Tower B water today - I think it is for
floors above 26th.
I would like to know at what time notices of this shut down were
posted. I did not see a notice late last night (01.00) when I was in the
elevator - although there is one posted now.
I cannot be the only person who did not know about this shut down.
Not everyone works a regular 9-6 day. For instance my better half is
working an afternoon flight for which she will now be unable to shower....
When urgent work needs to be done in the building there has to be a
better way to contact people - by email - or better still by sms - to give
as much notice as possible.
Please investigate and discuss with DP/Taziz how residents can be
better informed."
Note that as usual nothing will improve!
18 December 2011
A couple of vocal fascist protests
outside the US Embassy in BKK in the last couple of days. Would be nice if
the other foreign delegations also made it clear that this is out of
order: And why are protestors outside US Embassy in BKK masked? They don't
want to be recognised when they line up for US visas later?!
***************************
"The four most overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex
and picnics." - said Christopher Hitchens, the journalist and
16 December 2011
Lee Westwood's 60 at Amata Springs
yesterday is a remarkable score on a difficult golf course.
15 December 2011
Malaysian Air is cutting 12% of its
passenger capacity by culling unprofitable routes in early 2012 - the
cancelled routes include:
Effective January 10: Thrice-weekly
Kuala Lumpur – Dubai
Effective January 12: Twice-weekly Kuala Lumpur – Karachi – Dubai
Effective January 13: Twice-weekly Kuala Lumpur – Dubai – Damman
Meanwhile EK still flies 3 times daily to Kuala Lumpur feeding passengers
into Dubai on connecting routes.
But no not be surprised if Air Asia
X picks up some of the Malaysian routes at some stage in the future as the
airlines have combined into an effective monopoly in Malaysia.
************************
EK A380 update: delivery of A6-EDS (20th A380) is scheduled next Friday.
A6-EDT was delivery 2nd December. A6-EDU follows next year.
************************** In Thailand where the war on lese majeste appears to be taking a most
unpleasant direction Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said
yesterday that the government would spend 400 million baht ($12.7 million)
to purchase legal intercept technology that can block websites that insult
the monarchy.
The trouble with this is that
anything that is not glowing, kow-towing praise is deemed to be an insult.
***************************
Nick Kristof of the NYT on his recent visit to Bahrain: "the basic
dynamic has not changed. One family still controls an entire country:
Important positions almost all go to members of the royal family, who are
Sunni Muslims. Shiites are the majority but amount to second-class
citizens who are mostly kept out of the security services, in a system
reminiscent of apartheid."
13 December 2011
The Economist on the position of how
the UK might be viewing the Euro - not a bad analogy - although toxic
comes to mind which is unfortunate:
"Does that mean the government
thinks the single currency is the Titanic, just like the gleeful
backbenchers and columnists who were so happy this weekend? I hope not.
I think that the Titanic is a
misleading analogy. Once the Titanic sank beneath the icy waves, it
effectively ceased to exist. If the euro blows up, the consequences will
be horrible and long-lasting.
I have a new analogy to propose. I
think the British government should think of the euro as the Chernobyl
nuclear complex. They think it was badly designed, and thus was always a
bad idea. They are very glad not to have it on British soil. But they also
understand Britain's interest in helping to fix it. Or if that is
impossible, undertaking heroic efforts to contain and limit the
continent-wide fallout."
****************************
Frantic apartment cleaning underway before my mother arrives in Dubai
tomorrow night for her first ever visit.
12 December 2011
The Canadian Academy of Recording
Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced this morning that Blue Rodeo are the
2012 inductees to the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame. The band will be
honoured during the 41st annual Juno Awards ceremony, set for April 1,
2012 at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, and will be broadcast across the
country on CTV.
****************************
The Guardian on Mission Impossible 4 - "It's an opportunistic endeavour –
you suspect locations may have been in place, deals done with car firms
and tourist boards before the script was given a thought."
11 December 2011
This is wonderful - Gerald Donavan's
timelapse from his favourite Dubai balcony showing last night's lunar
eclipse....
Sign of the times at Watford :
Watford's 3rd round FA Cup tie has been scheduled for January 7 2012.
The clash with League Two Bradford City will kick-off at 3pm at the Vic'
as it is, unsurprisingly, not scheduled for TV.
Tickets for the game have been priced at £10 for adults and £15 for U16's.
Unemployment is now so bad in the UK that Under 16s pay more than adults
to watch a football match.
9 December 2011
Golf thought - this weeks trophy in
Dubai should be a model of a crane surrounded by diggers.
**************************
Euro crisis summit - not really - there will be another one within
weeks....this was the 8th Euro crisis summit this year...
**************************
Why is the euro failing - simple such diverse economies as Germany and
Greece cannot share a common currency and interest rate. If you lend money
to someone who cannot repay, you end up enslaving them.
***************************
Cameron's problem is that he put the bankers first - he defended the City
as the financial hub of Europe and the largest single generator of income
to UK plc.
But it was unregulated bankers who
created this mess in the first place. *************************** In between my grumblings about the DWC Golf there are some great
pairings today: els/kaymer, donald/oosthuizen, molinari/molinari, westwood/bjorn,
garcia/mcilroy.
6 December 2011
The Dubai World Championship is to
golf what the World Series is to baseball. Other than Europeans and South
Africans there appears to be one Korean, one Australian and one Chilean.
For instance, there is not one member of the winning US Presidents Cup
team. The event is the climax to the European Tour. Why not respect that
and call the tournament what it is - the Dubai European Tour Championship?
To over-hype the event is to devalue it. It is a significant tournament to
players that have slogged through 51 tournaments in the year. 3 of the
year's major winners are playing; but the reality is that the field does
not have the depth or the majors. Enjoy it for what it is. But do not
think of it as a world championship...which already exists under the
banner of the World Golf Championships (WGC).
5 December 2011
The view of Glocer's departure from
New York: "Glocer is credited with rescuing Reuters a decade ago through a
sweeping cost-cutting programme when the company’s performance and stock
price faltered following the dotcom bust. More than 3,000 jobs were axed.
He then engineered the $17 billion takeover of Reuters by Thomson and in
the process scored the masterstroke of securing the top job of the
combined company for himself. Thomson Corporation paid a 40 per cent
premium to Reuters’ share price at the time. Reuters gained a bail-out;
Thomson gained global recognition. As the Financial Times put it:
“Headquartered in Toronto and with its West legal business in Eagan,
Minnesota, Thomson punched below its weight outside North America. But by
acquiring Reuters, with its global news brand, buildings in Canary Wharf
and Times Square and a high-profile chief executive in Mr Glocer, ‘they
flirted with having a personality’, one insider said.”
*****************************
Over his three years at the helm of the combined company Glocer earned
more than $55 million. He is likely to walk away with at least $37.7
million in pay and shares.
He holds $28.2 million in shares and
options, according to company filings. He should also be entitled to
compensation in lieu of his annual salary and short-term and long-term
cash bonuses worth $9.5 million last year. A five-year long-term deferred
share award that he received in 2008 when he oversaw the merger is set to
vest. The windfall was worth $28 million but has vested in portions of 20
per cent each year since then.
******************************
Frozen Plant brings a whole new meaning to chilling out!
3 December 2011
On Clarkson - nice letter in the
Guardian: "Clarkson gets gently rebuked by his pal Mr Cameron, who
dismisses his words as a joke. Two boys jokingly incite others to riot on
Facebook and, to Cameron's satisfaction, get four-year sentences. Indeed
we are all in it together.
Gerard Hudson
Jarrow, Tyne and Wear"
****************************
England's Euro 2012 group games:
Monday 11 June v France (5pm)
Friday 15 June v Sweden (7.45pm)
Tuesday 19 June v Ukraine (7.45pm)
England are playing all their group matches in the Ukraine - but are
staying in Krakow in Poland. Daft - it is a two hour 800 mile flight to
each of their group matches.
2 December 2011
European football championship draw:
Euro 2012 in the Ukraine and Poland,
Holland, Denmark, Portugal and
Germany are in Group B Ouch.
Poland Greece Russia and Czech
Republic in Group A,
Croatia, Spain, Italy and Rep. Of
Ireland in Group C.
France, Sweden, Ukraine and England
in Group D.
*********************
Tom Glocer is forced out of Thomson Reuters:
The official version from David
Thomson:
"Tom will be remembered as the individual who turned around Reuters ten
years ago, led the company to growth and guided its sale to form Thomson
Reuters,” said David Thomson, chairman of Thomson Reuters. “Over the past
four years, Tom successfully directed an extensive integration, expanded
our business internationally, revitalized the Reuters news organization
and championed talent across the entire business."
The unofficial version: which I subscribe to:
"Tom will be remembered as the individual who destroyed the Reuters brand
and organisation after 150 years of undisputed leadership in international
news & financial information, led the company to ruin, and sold it off
cheaply to Thomson while rewarding himself handsomely with stock options
and generous bonuses” said former executives of the organisation that was
once a household name with an enviable reputation for innovation,
integrity, and independence."
1 December 2011
Jeremy Clarkson is an opinionated
buffoon.
Jeremy Clarkson's TV outburst in
which he said striking workers "should be shot" has led to more than
21,000 complaints to the BBC.
The Top Gear host - who made his comments during BBC1's The One Show on
Wednesday - has since apologised, together with the BBC.
The incident led to condemnation by union leaders and politicians, with
Prime Minister David Cameron branding the presenter's comments "silly".
Clarkson's gaffe came as he appeared
on TV on the evening of Britain's biggest public sector strikes for 30
years.
Speaking about the strikers, he said: "I'd have them all shot. I would
take them outside and execute them in front of their families.
"I mean, how dare they go on strike when they've got these gilt-edged
pensions that are going to be guaranteed while the rest of us have to work
for a living?"
***************************
BBC Sports Personality Of The Year isn't going to be an all-male event
after all. Belgium's all female Scala choir are performing. So boys do
sport, girls sing. Brilliant.
The BBC has I think ten candidates
for sports personality of the year - including three golfers - and all are
male. Sad.
Incidentally as far as anyone can
tell the only personality that the golfers have is greed.
***************************
Old Jokes Home:
Just bought a Jehovah's Witness advent calendar.
Every time you open a door someone tells you to f**k off.
EK#19 A380 (A6-EDT) will be delivered
this Friday - December 2nd.
*******************************
Came over to London on Sunday. And spent today on a quick day trip to
gale-hit Brighton.
Should write more. But feeling lazy!
25 November 2011
Emirates launched its A380 service
to Munich today replacing the morning B777 service.
EK also takes delivery of its 18th
A380 today with number 19 arriving next week
Couple of bits of data:
The airline’s A380 operations are
supported by more than 2,500 dedicated cabin crew and 362 pilots.
The carrier’s 17 A380s now serve Munich, London Heathrow, Manchester, New
York, Paris, Sydney, Auckland, Toronto, Bangkok, Seoul, Jeddah,
Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
Rome will be the next A380 point from December 1 followed by Kuala Lumpur
effective January 1 2012.
24 November 2011
Where does public interest stop and
start - or start and stop?
If it was not in the public interest
to know that Max Mosley was into BDSM would it be in the public interest
if we suddenty found out that a government minister was into BDSM?
It is not a moral judgment - but
would it be behaviour that might lead to potential bribery or corruption.
Adults, privacy and consent are fine
- if you are not doing any harm to anybody should you be able to do
whatever yuo like?
Let's extend that question - you are
a parent with kids in a school - one day the school headmaster or teacher
of your children is compromised through published photographs; do you have
a right to know and should you be concerned? I really do not know....
*****************************
This from the Bangkok Post:
"Local Facebook users risk violating the computer law unknowingly by
pressing the "like" or "share" button included with posted comment on
anti-monarchy messages on the most popular social networking site,
Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said
on Thursday.
Anyone doing so could be arrested on charges of violating the Computer
Crime Act and committing lese majeste because the law prohibits the
dissemination of content deemed insulting to the monarchy, he said.
Facebook users should not press the ``like'' button or post comments on
lese majeste-related content.
They would then become involved with the group's network. This may allow
anarchists to use their personal information to create a fake Facebook
account to support their cause.
Mr Anudith urged the users to press the "delete'' button if they receive
messages defamatory to the revered institution, to avoid breaking the law.
''Any user not deleting it may risk beiing prosecuted under the Computer
Crime Act, because they will be seen as having a role in indirectly
disseminating an unlawful message,'' he said."
23 November 2011
Reuters problems: Thomson Reuters
shares hit a new 52-week low in New York on Wednesday and then went even
further south as markets headed into the US Thanksgiving Day holiday. The
stock was trading at $26.01, below its previous 52-week low of $26.11,
when The Street wire issued a report. Later the price was $25.77, down
3.48 per cent on the day. TRI’s average volume has been 1.3 million shares
over the past 30 days. The shares were down 28.4 per cent year to date at
the close of trading on Tuesday.
Now I really am wishing I had gotten
rid of my Reuters shares a year ago.
************************
Simple message to the Thai judiciary - letting a 61 year old man with
cancer get 20 years in prison for "insulting" you is not human and cannot
be just.
*************************
Tai has gone to Mauritius - it has not been our best few days....and I am
home with a foul cold and a not much better mood!
A two week wait until the next
episode of The Good Wife - just as the series is starting to take shape
and the plots and sub plots are beginning to take on some definition -
Sunday's was the best episode to date of series 3. And Diane Lockhart is
defining herself as the strongest character in the team.
21 November 2011
"Key question Grant testimony
raising, it seems, is: to what extent should celebrities be entitled to
privacy?" said the New York Times correspondent.
Nope - key question is just how far
is the press allowed to go to breach anyone's privacy - whether a Dowler
or a Grant.
The picture that Hugh Grant presents
is of a man that has been largely hounded by the media for the last 17
years - and he presents his evidence very articulately with some humour
and no little anger.
Hugh Grant has easily the best line
of the day at #leveson to QC: "If these are your straight balls, I'd hate
to see your googlies."
Why Hugh Grant hates Associated
Press - and why the Mail is such a nasty, vicious rag - this
article is poison.
Yet the Mail on Sunday statement
claims "[Hugh] Grant’s allegations are mendacious smears driven by his
hatred of the media.”
Grant also claims that the Mail paid
gbp125,000 to an ex boyfriend of his child's mother (ex girlfriend) for
personal pictures of her.
The Mail and the Mail on Sunday are
one and the same. They are not fit to wipe your arse with.....
****************************
Some people are so fucking inconsiderate - why do people blast out music
at the loudest volume when they live in an apartment building.
First I rang the door bell - three
times.
Then I knocked on the door three
times.
Then I rang the door bell again and
again.
Then I used the heel of my shoe to
bash on the door.
Then the music stopped. A voice on
the other side of the door asked what is it. Silly cow. What did she think
it was.
Next time I will get security to do
the work.
18 November 2011
Knock Knock "Who's there?" "James
Murdoch." "James Murdoch who?" "I really have no recollection of that."
***************************
The irony of the English media fashionably rounding on Blatter is notable.
The English have some of the most abusive fans in the world.
Blatter is past his use by date but
he has taken football to the world - without him the world cup would not
have gotten to South Africa and would not be going to Russia and
Qatar....so while the Brits want to lynch him - most footballing nations
and most of the FIFA executive are hugely supportive of the old man !
****************************
The FT's The World blog today is intriguing -
"Yesterday evening I went to a dinner in Brussels, featuring a group of
senior politicians and diplomats. These dinners can be dull. But not this
one. The sense of crisis in Europe made for an extraordinary conversation.
The official speeches were not that exciting – featuring the usual, “we’re
living in tough times, but I’m confident we’ll see this through type of
rhetoric”. But it was the talk around the tables that was so striking.
Three remarks in particular stuck with me.
1) A senior official from a AAA country in Europe, saying of the euro –
“It seems we have created a machine from hell, that we cannot turn off.”
2) A senior official from a country that is in trouble with the markets
saying that – “For us Europe was a dream, but now it is a nightmare” – and
concluding that the only option was for his country was to leave the euro.
I asked him whether this was official policy. He said – no, but he
personally could not see any other way out.
3) A Brussels-based official who says that he is thinking of “Armageddon
plays”. In other words, what to do with his money, if the euro breaks up.
His conclusion – “Buy land in New Zealand. If war breaks out in Europe,
you can always go and live there, grow your own food and sell vegetables
to the Chinese.”
As you might infer, that was not an entirely serious remark. But the sense
of near-panic underlying it, seemed to me entirely real."
The crisis is only just starting....
17 November 2011
The White House just announced that
during President Obama’s visit to Indonesia, Lion Air has signed up for
230 firm orders for Boeing 737s with options on 150 more. 201 of the
orders are for 737Max. Valued at USD21.7 billions at list prices,
excluding options – this is the US airframer’s biggest order to date both
by size and value.
How will Lion Air finance this deal?
*************************
The Huffington Post wrote:
Ever wanted to spend a day in Dubai?
Now you can skip the flight and beat the heat by watching a full day's
time lapse of the city's skyline below.
Gizmodo first published the stunning images photographed by Gerald
Donovan, noting that the scene "is so beautiful it seems unreal."
The moon's shimmering reflection glides down the Burj Khalifa, which
towers over 2,700 feet high and currently holds the record for tallest
building in the world. Turn on the sound for an equally dramatic
background track.
One of the 400,000 who have viewed the video on YouTube wrote:
"it's a masterpiece, with such a
sense of light and shadow, of time and space, it's truly a poem on the
vanity of civilization ...congratulations"
What are they writing about:
Gerald's 24 hour timelapse from our balcony!
16 November 2011
The US Ambassador to Thailand had
this to say as Hillary Clinton met PM Yingluck ""the United States stands
firmly behind the civilian government of Thailand". SecClinton says at
press con w Thai PM Yingluck. #ClintonBKK"
Emphasise the word Civilian.
***********************
Qatar Airways confirms at #DXB11 its 2012 expansion with new flights to
Zagreb, Helsinki, Perth, Gassim, Zanzibar, Kigali and Mombasa.
***********************
Tiger Woods to play Abu Dhabi HSBC from Jan 26-29. Looks like a Masters
warm up - McIlroy, Schwartzel, Kaymer, Day, Westwood, Choi, Clarke.
************************
The UAE will compete with Russia, Brazil, Turkey & Thailand in hosting
World Expo 2020
*************************
Respecting the faith of Saudi citizens is one thing; but tolerating
brutality and shocking discrimination is another:
The Australian reports that Saudi Arabia is the only country to deny
women the right to drive. But despite renewed protests against the ban
this year, resistance to change remains strong among conservative royals
and clerics.
"A report this week by Kamal Subhi,
a former professor at King Fahd University, warned that allowing women to
drive would provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality
and divorce. Within 10 years of the ban being lifted, it warned, there
would be "no more virgins" in the kingdom."
Oh dear....
15 November 2011
Next week - The Good Wife - Good
Advice - "the state's attorney is coming after you because you are
sleeping with his wife - stop it"
In another review - this gem: "Kate nurses Henry and tells him about
her love for Croatia, but even post-heart-attack Henry totally knows that
she’s talking about her love for a Yugoslavian MAN, not a country. He asks
“Who was he?” and she says, fondly, “He was my redhead.” Kate, you cannot
just compare your short-term Communist boyfriend to the 40-year love of a
dying man. In fact, her comment killed him. Or maybe it was the heart
attack, I guess. In any case, he basically made everybody go to Haiti for
nothing."
And in another minor complication:
"Kate offers to leave Henry’s dead body behind so that the Haitian girl
can fly with them, which is a compromise that I feel like she’s not
allowed to make. (“Hello, is this Henry’s daughter?” “Yes!! Where is my
father??” “Oh, welllllll we just left him in a body bag on the tarmac in
Port Au Prince, ha-ha. Our bad.”)"
***********************
Emirates Airline's A380 services from London Heathrow will become triple
daily from 24th January, 2012, confirms the carrier.
*************************
There are an estimated 50 million active golfers in the world. Their
average score for 18 holes is 107 strokes and a full 80% of them will
never achieve less than a handicap of 18
*****************************
This reads like all the best reasons to avoid Phuket: (Jan-Jul '11)
Tourist arrivals up at Phuket Immigration: 1. China +116%, 2. Australia
+22%, 3. Russia +103% (TAT)
******************************
Boeing has begun assembling the 1,000th 777. The airplane is a Boeing
777-300ER (extended range) model. It will be delivered to Dubai-based
Emirates Airline in March 2012.
Emirates is the largest 777 customer with 95 777s currently in its fleet;
the 1,000th 777 will be its 102nd.
Sixty-four airlines have ordered 1,295 777s.
I remember SQ taking delivery of the
1,000th 747.....
Club Classic will feature extra wide and supportive cradle recliner seats
in a very spacious 2-2-2 configuration.
34 seats in Premier and 82 in
classic.
This will be a tough sell - Gatwick
is not the first place you think of for business class travel.
*****************************
RAK Airways will today take delivery of a single E190 on ACMI lease from
Air Moldova for growth in GCC - RAK airways whose fleet seems to change on
an almost weekly basis. In this case Air Moldova is providing the crew so
no training required. The plans will be used on a Ras al Kaimah to Doha
route.
******************************
Two days of lovely weather in Dubai (sorry corrected for typo) - clouds -
and even some rain - and then blue sky. Cool; at least by Dubai standards.
******************************
How gross is this: More than 1,300 people needed treatment at a Qatari
hospital after suffering from stomach upsets caused by excessive eating on
the first two days of Eid Al Adha, the feast of the Sacrifice.
Qatari media said that the emergency unit of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)
on Sunday, the first day of Eid, treated more than 550 patients with most
of them complaining of severe stomach upsets, including colitis and
diarrhoea.
The turnout of patients at the emergency unit on Monday was a record 767
between 6am and 6pm, and again, most of the cases involved stomach and
related ailments, some of them being quite severe, Qatari daily The
Peninsula reported on Tuesday.
*********************************
Anyone who bumps into Tai should ask her why she was unable to go to
Hamburg today....
But try hard not to take the....
5 November 2011
Adam Scott - totally disconnected
with the real world -
"It's not an issue for me," Scott
said. "I think everything in that room last night was all in good spirits
and a bit of fun and I think it probably got taken out of that room in the
wrong context. Steve issued a statement and apologised and he did the
right thing."
"No comment. No comment. No comment.
For a global sport at a global event in the midst of a global controversy,
professional golf had depressingly little to say for itself in the
immediate aftermath of Steve Williams's racial slur against his former
employer Tiger Woods.
"That black arsehole,'' was the term used by the New Zealander at an
awards ceremony in Shanghai in front of 200 or so players, caddies,
sponsors and officials."
"That Williams was guilty of
revealing an ugly truth about himself, unwittingly or otherwise, is beyond
doubt. So is the punishment he should have faced. He should have gone.
From the Champions event in China. From his lucrative employment with the
Australian golfer Adam Scott. From the sport of golf. For good."
"That none of these things had happened by the evening after the night
before speaks eloquently about the cravenness and cowardice of the
self-regarding, self-perpetuating, self-enriching administrators who claim
to have the best interests of golf at heart."
Williams saw fit to post an apology
on his website, admitting that his comments could have been "construed as
racist. However I assure you that was not my intent.''
Idiot.
*************************
This will have shaken up the passengers - an SQ 777 skewed off the runway
at Munich - and it looks like the crew over-corrected - slewing to the
left and then ending up on the grass to the right of the runway!
***************************
From Pravit at The Nation via Twitter: Kom Chad Leuk newspaper reported
that luxury hotels & resorts in BK & nearby provinces r booked up by 'hi
so'. Nice 2 know they r OK.
As reports suggest that the flood
waters will reach victory monument in one day.
4 November 2011
Finally as I go to bed there is a
big Emirates rumour on the pprune board - from three different people.
Maybe something to it. But it is just a rumour.....
**************************
Sorry but the Groupon IPO is not proof of a new internet bubble - 5% only
of the stock was for sale - and it was priced to ensure those who bought
could sell quickly at a profit - how long before the stock falls below
US$20?
**************************
Clever comment on pprune described SQ's 777 that finished on the grass at
MUC yesterday as the 777OR - off road version !
***************************
Lufthansa ending Frankfurt – Calgary service, effective 05FEB12. But
Canada still refuses to extend landing rights to Emirates. Go figure??
Air Canada lobbied the government
hard to protect AC and Star Alliance from EK's announced wish to fly daily
to Toronto and also to Vancouver and Calgary. Now LH is pulling out of
Calgary. AC is losing is codeshare on that route. And EK still cannot fly
there.
Who loses out? The customer.
3 November 2011
Bit of a slog back from Madrid
yesterday - we were delayed for three hours in Madrid - sitting on the
airplane - waiting for a "technical problem" to be fixed - 20 to 30
minutes turned out to be three hours. They had to find a part. They had to
get paperwork. Very hard to tell what was going on.
I hate it when the crew say there is
a technical problem. We are not stupid - tell us some more information -
what the problem really is...we all have things that go wrong - so dont be
shy in adding some explanation.
And be realistic is assessing the
problem - we would have been much happier waiting in the terminal and
going to get a drink and something to eat.
Anyway we mad up a bit of time and
landed into Dubai at 2.35am - so some people will not have made their
connections.
***************************
Skyfall will be the 23rd Bond film - it is set debut in British cinemas on
Oct. 26, 2012 and U.S. cinemas on Nov. 9.
Yes I have seen them all - and at
least a few times each!
****************************
Norman Foster's fabulous plans for a Thames transport hub in London were
unveiled today - summed up in the Guardian as follows:
Could we soon be flying in and out
of one of the greatest ports in the world where fleets of modern aircraft,
ships and trains power Britain's economy into a newly competitive age?
Will we live in fine new homes connected to brand new transport, energy
and communications spines and hubs? Or will we decide it's business as
usual in little Britain and carry on building junk housing on what were
once meadows and unsustainable supermarkets and shopping malls on the land
that's left and between overcrowded roads and railways? Foster and his
team have offered a big-spirited vision of Britain, but do we have eyes to
see it?
1 November 2011
52 days until Christmas - where did
the year go?
*******************************
Heading back to Dubai in the morning; need a rest! Not sure how the
Madridlenos survive - they eat and drink and party! And they start late
and finish later...