Welcome to the weekend! In Abu Dhabi, the weekend starts on Thursday. This works better for me... In Western countries (where the weekend is Saturday/Sunday), I can party Friday and Saturday night and then relax on Sunday. Sundays can be quiet in (choose 1): a. London, b. Dallas, c. Shanghai ... Notice that I didn't indicate Wichita, where it is quiet 7x24x365. In Abu Dhabi, the big party nights are: Wednesday night (Ladies night), Thursday night (start of the weekend), Friday night (Big party night) and Saturday night (house party night). So, instead of having two party nights per week, I have four in Abu Dhabi. This is great, but all great things comes with a price. In my case, the cost is "conference calls". Invariably someone at head office will schedule a conference call for Friday morning Dallas time (Friday night in Abu Dhabi and the early evening of the "Big Party Night"). If my company doesn't stop scheduling Friday conference calls, I'm going to start scheduling Sunday afternoon (Abu Dhabi local time) conference calls (Middle of the night Saturday/Sunday in the USA).
Anyway, I wish all of my readers a happy weekend and try to spend some time partying "Shane Style" this weekend!
Musical Interlude:
My suggestion this time is a song written by David Byrne (formerly of the Talking Heads). This is "Papa Legba" from the movie "True Stories" performed by Pop Staples. I love this clip, even though it is dubbed in German (which just seems to add to its coolness, if you ask me). By the way, this scene supposedly takes place in Fort Worth, Texas in 1986 -- which, although I didn't have direct knowledge, was not exactly a hotbed of Santoria "white magic" voodoo when I lived there. For those of you who have never seen "True Stories", I highly recommend this film. It is a nice, non-judgmental, good-hearted story that launched the career of John Goodman. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/XsbtAxGTAE4
Section 1: Cool Items for Less than $10:
The preponderance of "Apps" in recent years has really revolutionised eCommerce. Apps are inexpensive and can provide super-cool functionality. I'll feature some of my favourites throughout my blog entries, but this first entry of Apps is "near and dear to my heart" ... In fact, it is for my heart ... "Instant Heart Rate" the heart monitoring tool from the Apple Apps Store. Many mornings, following nights of relentless partying, I am just happy that my heart actually registers on the App at all. the App, however, has a trending capability which has shown me that, the more I work out, the quicker my heart recovery is ... It is nice to know that I can repair some of the ravages of my hard-partying life with consistent trips to the gym. For $1.00, this App is a steal, if only to "put your heart at rest" ...
Section 2: Cool Items for Less than $100
My entry for this section of my blog posting is my favourite alcoholic drink, "Snow Leopard Vodka". This is a six times distilled super-premium Polish vodka that tastes fantastic. The producer also provides 10% of the profits from the vodka to the preservation of the Snow Leopards in the wild. I tell my friends that it is our moral obligation to show charity and save the Snow Leopards. In fact, I've saved so many Snow Leopards by this time that I'm expecting a nomination for the "CNN Hero of the Year". Thanks, in advance, for your vote! I guarantee that I've had some wild nights with the Leopard! In fact, when my friends and I decide we are going to party heavily we take a vow to "Free X numbers of leopards" (one litre of Vodka = 1 leopard in our reckoning)! My favourite way to enjoy Snow Leopard is with sour cherry juice ... This is immortalised in one of my older blog entries as "The Elixir". Enjoy this good value luxury!
Section 3: Cool Items for less than $1000:
For those of you that know me well, you know that I love neck ties. I also like "theme ties". My favourites are by Hermes (shown above), Salvatore Feragammo (pictured below), and Dunhill. Although, a banker friend of mine once commented that he didn't support Dunhill due to to the "tobacco connection". I don't smoke Dunhill cigarettes but they aren't a political issue for me. I'll keep wearing my Dunhill ties, thank you! I never buy myself ties, even though I like them very much. I expect my loved ones to buy all of my ties. This year, I asked Shazia (my daughter) to find me a Tiffany Blue tie. For some reason, I keep seeing celebrities wearing this colour and I like it (its not like I'm asking for Shazia to give up her lunch money, the chick is 27 years old this year!). She eventually (after great effort) found me one from Feragammo ... one of my favourites! I have about 200-300 ties ... and about 35 of those 200-300 are clean enough that they don't have a spot on them that needs dry cleaning! Some of my ties have so many stains on them, I have to keep them in the refrigerator!
Section 4: Cool Items When Price Doesn't Matter:
Most hotels have a shop that sell T-shirts, swimming suits, cheap novels, etc. Not Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. They have Barakat's - a shop that sells authentic antiquities. The Barakat's antiquities are 100% authentic and are from locations around the world. They have ancient Egyptian, Hittite, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Indian, Chinese and even pre-Columbian new-world artefacts. These are museum quality finds that are available for the well-heeled. The sandstone relief above is of the god Horus and is from ancient Egypt. This trifle is about 8 inches x 10 inches (18 cms by 22 cms) and was made in the period of 950 BCE - 910 BCE. This can be yours, dear reader, for a mere Dirhams 75,000 (US$ 20,800 or GBP 13,000). Below is one of my favourites ... this is a wine crater (sort of like a mixing vessel) made of Attic "Black Wear" pottery. It is a little more pricey (Dirhams 120,000 = US$33,000 = GBP 21,000) because it comes from the "Golden Age of Athens" (380 BCE - 350 BCE). Antiquities are an investment but these are undoubtedly cool!
Section 5: My Favourite Places:
Undoubtedly, one of my favourite places in the entire world is the Sky Bar at the Unique Hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Sky Bar has the most fantastic view of Paulista Avenue in downtown Sao Paulo! The bar and restaurant have a convenient roof-level swimming pool. At night, the bar has a super-chilled music selection and the most romantic view of the city. The Unique Hotel (pictured below) is a landmark in its own right. Shaped like "Noah's Ark" it is an architectural icon that adds to the lustre of Sao Paulo. I do not recommend, however, that you drink the Caprianhas at the Sky Bar ... Cachaca gives me a hangover that last for days. Instead, drink Caprioskas (made with vodka instead of Cachaca). Might I recommend Snow Leopard?!
I hope you all enjoy this blog entry ...
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