In the Dark.

When Omar said all he wanted to do in Bahrain was watch movies at the mall, I assumed he was using a bit of hyperbole; this was not the case. We left Riyadh after work and entered the Kingdom of Bahrain a little before midnight. After checking into the furnished apartment, we met up with a friend of Omar’s from Riyadh at a sheesha house nearby. We sat for about an hour and talked about money, the World Cup and cars. A typical evening hanging out.

The next morning, we were up by 9am and on our way to the movie theater at the mall by 10am. We bought tickets for Kickass! and Shrek: Ever After 3D as soon as we got in. Four hours later we took a half hour break for coffee and a waffle, and then it was back into the dark for Prince of Persia. After 90 minutes of a historically inaccurate movie based on a video game about Persians where American actors inexplicably had British accents, I was surprised to find that I had an appetite. We walked about 50 yards to a seafood restaurant, thus combining exercise (walking) and the (concept at least) of the outdoors.

For the evening’s finale, Paul and Omar bought tickets for Iron Man 2. Tameem and I had already seen this movie and we made the mistake of buying tickets for a romantic comedy/action movie starting Ashton Kutcher as a government assassin. We should have simply watched Iron Man 2 again. Better, we should have left the mall.

By midnight, over more coffee, we talked Omar out of trying to catch the midnight screening of whatever else was playing and headed back to the apartment. We made sure to get enough sleep before heading back to the mall the next morning and catching an early showing of Robin Hood before hitting the road back to Riyadh.

For those of your playing along at home, that makes 5 movies in 2 days; none of them were any good.

No Clue.

The t-shirt on the guy in front of me in line said, Disco Jockey Beat Box Remix, in giant flaming letters. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds pretty awesome.

Radiation.

So here’s a new one. It’s so hot here, that when I turn on the shower I have to wait a few minutes for the water to cool off. Yeah, because the water that’s been sitting in the pipes in the 110+ degree direct sun all day long is scalding hot.

The Last.

Okay, I promise this is the last picture of the cat laying about in his tube box. I assure you there will be no more, at least until this fall.

Proximity.

At the Frankfurt International Airport the boarding area for the flight to Riyadh was directly next to the area for the flight to Tel Aviv.  The German's have a strange sense of humor.

Airspace.

It's been very warm in Saudi, so I decided to take advantage of my jetlag and went for a run this morning at 5am. While out I saw this bird flitting around some of the trees.

Upon landing on some brush, the bird's crown of feathers spread out into a black and orange tipped mowhawk. This seemed pretty cool and when I got back from my run I looked it up in a compendium of Birds of Arabia. The bird is called a Hoopoe and was recently named the national bird of Israel. I wonder who gave it flight clearance to land here?

Foothills.

While visiting California last week Lydia and I went on a short hike with my parents. We drove up towards Colfax and didn't let the threat of rain stop us from wandering along a trail for about 45 minutes. Along the way I got to play with the digital zoom function on the camera and catch this wildflower.

On the way back we almost stepped on this snake sunning itself in the middle of the trail. It didn't seem to notice us gathered around taking pictures.

After the hike, we headed over to Nevada City for some lunch at Ike's Quarter Cafe, a really excellent New Orleans creole restaurant that serves all organic, locally produced food. According to their sign, Ike's has been 'keeping it Creole since 2001.' I can't really judge that for sure, but the food was good and we all left stuffed.

Why Fight It.

I'm back in the U.S. for only a short time and already I'm posting pictures of the cat sleeping in a giant cardboard box. I guess there's no point in fighting the inevitable.

That Special Someone.

I have three fraudulent charges on my credit card.

1. Subscription to www.Seniormeetup.com

2. $50 flowers-to-go order.

3. $75 flowers-to-go order.


All three charges occurred within four days of each other. Isn't it nice to know that even as we get older, the internet can help us find that special someone.

The Cup.

Messed up from jetlag and the extended travel thanks to the Ash Cloud of Doom, so the accompanying story will have to come later. For now, a shot from the second half of the King's Cup National Championship game. No hotdogs or beer, but free VIP seats were pretty cool.

You Just Know.

I saw two French kids on my street today. How did I know they were French? They were riding unicycles.

The Best of the Best of the Best.

Made in America, painted and flown in Saudi Arabia. Pretty cool either way if you ask me. How do you say IceMan in Arabic?

Dried Out.

Rain one day, 100+ degrees the next; this can all be very confusing to a pile of dirt just trying to mind its own business.

The Buffet.

The menu at last night’s banquet:

Hummus
Yellow Fin Tuna Sushi Rolls
Tabbouleh
Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail
Babaghanoujh
Sashimi Salmon
Whole Roasted Goat (including the head) on Rice

Art. History.

Primitive art. Graffiti. Storytelling. History books. Just passing the time.

Call it whatever you'd like, but there sure is a lot of it spread around this country. Some of it's pretty old too, like a few thousand years old. The dry air and general lack of people help preserve most of the drawings pretty well.


You won't find ostriches anywhere around here nowadays, but I've found enough pieces of petrified ostrich shell to understand why this was put on the rock. Somewhat reminiscent of the mother duck leading her baby ducks to school sign.

Ancient goat rodeo?


Gazelle on what were once grassy plains? Okay, much more likely that these depict the Oryx, a relative of the antelope.


That's not Arabic. Or Hebrew. Or Aramaic. It's a pre-Arabic Semitic script that has some similarities to all three languages. After all, the Arabian Peninsula would have seen travelers and traders who spoke many different languages.


Whoa, pre-James Cameron 3-D artwork. Cool.