Category: Random Thoughts
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Synthetic Life in Dubai
Waterfall in the Dubai Mall
(c) Cynically Jaded
The main waterfall in the Dubai Mall is quite an attraction. It has the ability to keep you staring in awe at the sheer scale of it without realising that you’re about to throw up from being sea sick. The motion of the water running down its face is hypnotic in many ways, but the ill-fated men that are pinned to it by their nether regions (impressive!) leave a disturbing after taste since it flies in the face of the numerous notices around Dubai urging foreigners to observe a modest dress code out of respect for the local customs.
It’s yet another contradiction of the wholesomeness that Dubai claims to offer, but is generously draped in a synthetic lifestyle that appeals to everything but spirituality. Dubai has been successful at making modesty a status symbol. Synthetic life. That is the single most prominent thought that echoed in my head on our visit to Dubai. The visit made me appreciate the comforts of home so much more.
Everything we saw was drenched in artificial elegance, and pretentious splendour. My excitement at approaching the aquarium in the mall was very quickly doused by the reality of the massively inflated prices for a lack-lustre attraction. I have never seen so many fake plants in a natural exhibit of wildlife before in my life. I hope to share some of those photos in a later post. But for now, enjoy the generously endowed men sticking it to the waterfall. It left me giggling through my nausea for a long time.
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Me and my American wife
Daughter: Daddy, mummy says the sandwiches are about to go into the press
Me: Tell mummy it’s not a press, it’s a toaster
Mummy: …The difference in terminology between what Americans call things, versus what we say in South Africa is quite amusing at times. My favourite so far has got to be the ‘hot water heater’ term that Americans use when referring to what we call a ‘geyser’. There’s many others, and I suspect that it will be the subject of a post that is entirely focused on exposing the ridiculous use of the Queen’s English by those that appropriated the culture and decided to call it ‘American’.*
*And if you take that seriously, then you’re a dork! (Pre-emptive strike against trolls)
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How The Greek Bail Out Works
Received this in email a while back. Stumbled across it today again and thought it worth sharing…I have no idea if this is a true reflection of how the bail out package actually works, but it’s an interesting tale nonetheless. 🙂
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night. The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The supplier takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.
The tavern owner slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has been offering him “services” on credit.
The prostitute then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything.
However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.
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The Real Terrorists
The numbers speak for themselves. There’s no point in sharing any observations around this because anyone with a thinking brain can see the disproportion between what is stated in the media and emphasised in studied history relative to the facts.
It’s a simple chart indicating the death toll of the various responsible ‘civilisations’ since the beginning of the Gregorian calendar, through war, or other means other than violent personal crime.
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Question – Trigger Warning
be1ieve replied to your photo: That little red bastard should come with a trigger…haha yesss! i did the same thing and right away your post came along.
Don’t you feel so helpless when that happens? I mean, that need to click…especially when you’re about to walk away from your laptop and just as you’re about to stand up it appears! And then you have this internal struggle, and you think, but…but…but maybe it’s something important…and it starts all over again! 🙁
