Bits n bobs

A few little things to post today:

1. Oman V Kuwait AFC game on March 3rd (Wednesday night).

For those that were up in arms over having to spend RO 1.000 to watch Oman play and support their nation, they got lucky. Omantel (22,000) and Bank Sohar (500) have purchased 22,500 of the total 25,000 tickets available for the game. If you are wearing an Oman FC shirt (or presumably sufficient local stuff) you will be admitted to the game for free. Pretty good move from Omantel, and a nice little spot for Bank Sohar, for comparatively little cash too. Bank Muscat et all may have missed a trick with that one.

Rather amusingly, those supporting Kuwait will have to pay, as will those who do not have any Oman gear on. I predict that no one will pay and everyone will just go for free. Time will tell. I wonder how tight security will be, as the SQ sports complex has not had a particularly good track record in that area. Any odds on how many minutes it'll be till we see a firework?!

2. Muscat RFC v French Navy on March 1st (Monday night) at 6:30pm

Local boys Muscat take on the Frogs in a friendly on Monday night. It should be a good game - the French will be looking for revenge from their last game a few months ago.

3. Muscat Daily.

Recently, the Dragon wrote a piece about the new local daily here, Muscat Daily. The Dragon made a few remarks that did ring true with me, and also irritated me a little because I was preparing another critique of the paper in a follow up to my initial review of the paper. I read the comments section to that particular article with a big smile - you have got to love the haters!

I think the paper is ok on the whole. I had noticed that recently there has been a tendency to spout the usual sun-shine drivel that everything is great and there's nothing ever wrong here, but I figure that's more an effort to get some advertising, which is currently woefully low (just 3 ads in today's main paper, 2 of which were Government - MoT and Haya Water). I also do have to agree with the Dragon's comment about questioning whether the journalists there ever google any of the stories they publish. The story on the HPV vaccine now available at Muscat Private Hospital a few weeks ago was a case in point: some simple checking would have identified just how badly people were being ripped off. But the best bit is what wasn't printed or even suggested. HPV can only be contracted by sexually active women.... yeah I don't have to say any more now, do I? And to give the story front page coverage on what was essentially a glorified advertisement, that was a bit of a head-scratcher too. I wonder how much money Muscat Daily charged for that one?

A side-note that I was going to include in my follow-up on the paper: I noted that Apex Publishing recently bought a new press to handle printing of the Daily in-house (previously they were being printed on the same machines as the Oman Observer). I wonder if there's any more than meets the eye on that front?

4. Canadian Stampede, March 4th (Thursday) at 7:30pm

Very few tickets left. It's going to be a great party, I cant wait to have another bash at line-dancing. I suggest anyone anywhere near me wears steel-toe capped shoes.....

5. Oman Air now flying direct to Colombo.

Excellent news for the Sri Lankans, and anyone interested in visiting the country. Oman Air now flies direct to Colombo on Wednesdays and Fridays, and back on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Albeit the times are a bit awkward for a decent weekend trip: fly Wednesday morning at 0:15, landing at 05:40, and then leaving Colombo at 07:15 Friday morning, arriving back in Muscat at 11:55. The price including taxes is around RO 220.

6. Small news puff piece: Oman now has a suspension bridge! Due to be officially opened down in Sur sometime soon, the new bridge links the mainland Sur and the village of Aijah. It has been named Khor al Bath, which I thought was a rather peculiar name to give a bridge which is designed to keep you out of the water... but there we are :)

7. And finally, spotted by Muscati and subsequently tweeted earlier today. Another new interpretation on how to spell the name Al Athaiba:


heh.

And that's all for today. I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. Good luck to USA and Canada tonight, in the Olympic Mens Ice Hockey final (Live on Eurosport at 00:45).

le fin.

The great Canadian stampede party

It's nearly that time of year once again folks. The fabulous Canadian Stampede party is coming again.... on March 4th.

Tickets are notoriously hard to get (you need to be a PDO RC member), but there are still some available. If you want one, send me an email (my address is in the disclaimer) and I will put you in touch with those that can provide you your ticket to one of the best parties in town.



Drinks are RO 1.000 each (got to love the subsidized piss from PDO) and there is a shooter bar that is comedy gold every year, guaranteed.

DJ Hurricane is being flown in from Calgary, the home of the Calgary Stampede, and he never fails to disappoint every year. So if you fancy a spot of cow-boy watching (or pretending to be one), or line-dancing (or attempting to), then head on down to the PDO Rec Centre on March 4th..... it never fails to be a great time.

Tickets cost RO 20.000 and you get dinner and a free drink.

le fin.

Tour de Oman

This Sunday sees the first leg of the first ever Tour of Oman. On the official website (which is actually surprisingly good for a local website), you can learn the routes, dates, and who will be riding their bikes. There's going to a surprisingly large amount of them - 128 competitors, albeit in teams.

Interestingly, 16 of the 20 teams entered into the Tour de France are competing here in Oman. Perhaps a spot of pre-season training? Or is it mid-season? Is there even a season required for competitive bike racing?

I can think of things I'd prefer to be doing on Valentines day (Sunday the 14th February), but if watching people riding bikes is romantic for you, be sure to check out the Muttrah Cornich on Sunday at 6pm. The cynical side of me wonders how many spectators will gather just to hope to see a crash? :)

Here is a summary, with maps(!) of the 6 legs of the tour of Oman:

Day 1, Stage 1: Sunday, 14 February 2010 - 1800hrs start
Distance: 60.8 km in 16 turns around the circuit from Riyam Roundabout to the Fish Roundabout


Day 2, Stage 2: Monday, 15 February 2010 – 1300hrs start
Distance: 148.5 km from Nizwa to Izki, Samail, Bidbid, and back to Samail


Day 3, Stage 3: Tuesday, 16 February 2010 – 1300hrs start
Distance: 125 km Sifat Ak Sheikh to Quriyat


Day 4, Stage 4: Wednesday, 17 February 2010 – 1150hrs start
Distance: 187 km from Ibri to A’Rustaq , Al Awabi, and Nakhal


Day 5, Stage 5: Thursday, 18 February 2010 – 1315hrs start
Distance: 148 km from Wattayah to Shatti Al Qurum, A’Seeb, Barka, Al Khoudh, Ghala, and Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex


Day 6, Stage 6: Friday, 19 February 2010 - 1400hrs start
Distance: 18.5 km from Barr Al Jissa to the to the Fish Roundabout through the Marine Road


Now that you are aware of where the routes will take the racers.... be sure to not get stuck in the inevitable traffic jams that will arise as a result :)

Recently I received an email with a bunch of motivational posters, your usual email nonsense, but this one did produce a smile from me, and I felt the need to share it with you all:


Lets hope nothing like that happens next week....

le fin.

Rainy days ahead

It appears that we are in for a bit more rain on Saturday and Sunday.


Both the BBC and Accuweather are reporting rains and thunderstorms for the two days. It would seem that the rains will start Saturday night and end Sunday night, so the rains may come in a 24-36 hour window.

I think we've had more rain here the last couple months than we've had in total since Gonu! Or is it just me? And it's warmer this winter than it has been the last 2 winters.... or is that just me too?

So - watch out for puddles, and the inevitable game of chicken that arises every time there's a puddle in the way of on-coming traffic and so they decided to drive in your lane because it would be the end of the world if their car gets dirty!

le fin.

The Weekend has landed.... nearly.

Just a quick one today.

For those of you that have enjoyed previous Craic Attack shows, the Muscat Comedy Club have another one... and it's tonight! I didn't realise.... but I was having a senile moment last night and slipped my alarm clock onto radio instead of the beep beep beep, and Darren Shortt woke me up with the news that there's a comedy gig on tonight. And there are still some tickets available - and they can be had on the door tonight.


The previous events by these people have all been really funny, so there's no reason to believe that this one wont be either... So if you're free tonight, and have a spare tenner... check it out @ the Crowne Plaza. Co-incidentally, am I the only one that thinks the Crowne Plaza hotel looks like a cruise ship?

Have a good weekend everyone.

le fin.