TGIW

It's Wednesday again!

Not a lot on this weekend, but here are my two top highlights:

1. HiFM - Roger Sanchez house mix, recorded live in Ibiza earlier this year, a 4 hour set, kicks off at 9 pm. Great to warm up to before heading out for the night. Alternatively, you can listen online here.

2. Dj rita x. craft starts spinning at Zouk tonight. Check it out!

That's all. Enjoy your weekend! If you are running an event and would like me to include it in my weekend planner... please do email me at the address on the top right hand corner of the blog: mrsythe *at* gmail.com

More news on the new Sabco radio station soon.... check out 97.9 FM....

le fin.

Happy Thanksgiving

To those of you that are celebrating Thanksgiving today.... have a great day and enjoy the turkey!

More tomorrow!

le fin.

Asian Beach Games....

Here we are, on the 10th of October, with 59 days to go until the launch of the Muscat Asian Beach Games.

The clock is ticking, and work is well under way at the venues, and I have faith that the facilities will be completed on time for the games - just in time.

But I have learned some rather disturbing pieces of information in recent weeks. There is no way for me to fully verify them and so I'm sure there will be additional pieces of information to this story that may make it more understandable... please do comment.

Have you tried to book a hotel in Muscat during the games? You may find it hard to do so as many hotels have had their rooms block-booked by the Ministry of Tourism. Why have they done this? They did this to accommodate the more than 1500 registered athletes from 45 countries who are due to compete in the games. The nice hotel and apartment building that has been built at the main facility is not going to accommodate any of the athletes - it's all being used by VIP's and sponsors - I guess that makes sense, because then you'd be into a favouritism argument if one team gets accommodation over another team, etc. etc.

In fact, of the 7 athlete accommodation buildings that were planned, only 1 has been built. Of a reported $100,000,000 budget assigned to the MABGOC (Muscat Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee), reportedly over 80% of it has been spent on the hotel and apartment complex that is really being handled by OMRAN (ok that does make some sense because MABGOC would have no experience in construction procurement).

It is certainly food for thought: Why Mussanah? Why re-invent the wheel and focus most efforts on building a hotel and apartment building in the middle of nowhere, when existing facilities within Muscat could have easily been adapted and expanded upon to meet the needs of the games. A hotel could have been built at Mussanah by OMRAN to a 4* standard for a lot less than $80 million.

On another point - have you actually visited the site of the Games? Imagine the traffic nightmare that is bound to happen when people try and attend.... to date I have not seen any modifications to the roads or signage, or the motorway access and egress (a simple round about). I hope the ROP will step in and control the traffic otherwise it'll be the pandemonium that we see in Ghala every day. Traffic issues will be compounded by the fact that the athletes will also have to drive in and out of the venue as well.

It is good that other parts of Oman are benefiting from the Games, but it is unfortunate that the facilities being constructed have left little choice for the athletes but to stay in hotel rooms, which the teams themselves are reportedly expected to pay for themselves (I understand that some rooms will be provided for free by the MABGOC, but not all).

One does have to ask the question: Why do countries bid for and compete to host major sporting events? The answer (among many answers) is to do with promoting tourism to that country, and in this case, getting Oman noticed on the world stage as a future host of other major international events. Oman is a truly unique treasure: It's got golden sandy beaches, mangroves, mountains and desert dunes all within 90 minutes of each other, and lets not even get started on the beautiful areas in the Dhofar region and the interior regions. And yet, many supporters hoping to travel with their countries teams will find it hard to secure a place to stay during the Games.

In general, it does look as if the athletes requirements have perhaps been balanced against getting the hotel and apartments finished at Mussanah. And as for the spectators, well the spectators information section on the official website informs us, "Spectator’s Services information will be made available in the months leading up to the Game" - well seeing that there is less than 2 months to go until the "Game" begins, this website is now out of date.

What do you think about the Asian Beach Games? Will you be attending? Do you think Oman will benefit from this event?

le fin.

Weekend round up.

Ahh, Wednesday you shady lady, you're here again.

There's quite a lot going on this weekend, and here's my pick:

Wednesday night:

You might want to go and check out the circus at Qurum park. I've not heard any reviews on this, so if you've been, please do share your experiences with the rest of us.

Thursday night:

It's the 80's bash at t'intercon gardens. I've got my outfit sorted, keep your eyes peeled for my delightfully tacky gold chain, and sunglasses! For those of you that have been living in Muscat for a few years, you might remember the time before Hi FM started bringing acts to Muscat.... there was nothing here. We should support these gigs so that we get more...

Gates open at 7pm, and tickets cost RO 20.000 a pop. Call 9555 5699 for ticketing information.

Friday:

Muscat are taking on last seasons league champions, Bahrain in the only sport that matters at 4pm. Yes I'm talking about rugby again, and yes I'm asking you all to please come down and support the guys as they face up to last seasons champions. Real David and Goliath stuff - it should be good.
The kids section of the rugby club will be having a demonstration at 3pm on the field, ahead of the 4pm kick off of against Bahrain. If you would like to come, but don't know how to get to the field, click here for a map showing you where the field is, its right next to the ABA school in Al Khuwair.

le fin.

Robberies in Azaiba, and Salam Yiti.

Yesterday the news finally broke officially that Omran will be taking on a larger role in the development of the stalled Salam Yiti project. This has been an inevitable development ever since Sama Dubai shelved the project two years ago. The original Contractor on the project, Douglas OHI, will presumably have to re-tender in a competitive bid process along with everyone else who chooses to tender on the project.

It'll be good to see the waste-land that Yiti currently is developed into something not so ugly - construction on site is tipped to start again in Q1 2011.

I've recently been informed that there are thieves operating in the Azaiba area (again). Car stereos, ipods, bags, anything in cars seems to be the target this time. Even the face plate off of a car stereo was taken in one case. Be sure to lock up, and hide anything of value from view.

More tomorrow.

le fin.

Anyone listening to the radio lately?

The last month or so has been very disrupted for me: Mad rush at work before Eid, then a 2 week vacation, and now 2 weeks back in Muscat playing catch-up after my leave.

I have found myself in my car a lot lately. Sitting in traffic. What on earth is going on with Ghala? It's total gridlock there every day - I'm glad I do not have to work there every day or I think I'd be riding a motor bike.

So with all this time spent sitting in traffic, I have been listening to the radio occasionally, and have noticed a few changes - have you?

Firstly, as previously reported on this blog, Rachel has left - I wont miss her, I just didn't like her style, and honestly wondered why she remained in her job for so long. It now seems that the music being played is a lot more current, and Darren Shortt seems to have kicked his breakfast show up a notch - I like the Nathan segment, and the ice cream song (even though I hardly ever get it - names of things was never my strong point).

Other than the odd advertisement for the 80's night this weekend, I have not yet heard the new girl Erin's show, but I'm guessing that she will be starting soon. It'll be good to hear a new voice, if only for a change - but her voice seems to carry well on the radio. Perhaps I'm just biased to North American accents ;)

The widely spread "secret" that a new radio station is to launch now appears to be actually happening - I'm told that within a few weeks a new English language radio station will be launching nationwide here in Oman. It's format has been rumoured to be the following:

Morning show with a live DJ, rolling music until the drive-time and then another live DJ, and then more rolling music until the next morning show. I for one am not sure what to think about this. I remember when Hi FM started it's test broadcasts, and it was just non-stop music - and it was great - for a week, until all the songs in the rotation were well and truly played to death.

I have to wonder how effective that will be as a competitive radio - if I want non-stop music, I have access to that via my own cds and mp3s, and if I'm bored of a track I can always skip it - "why do I listen to the radio"? I thought to myself recently.

And, I realised, for me, I listen to the radio for different reasons at different times. In the mornings I'm listening because I'm driving to work, and I find the traffic reports are helpful - I have to drive to a lot of different places for my job. I also like the banter, and, shock horror, the music seems fresher recently. In the day, it's for some music that is not in my car's music system, and on Wednesday nights I like the house mixes. Which while we're on that for a moment: Hi FM appear to have obtained the rights for Roger Sanchez, a prominent house DJ from Miami and well known by aficionados of the world famous Winter Music Conference held annually there. Being someone that likes house music (amongst many other types of music) I look forward to hearing some of his mixes on the radio.

Now, those readers of my blog that have been following me for a while will know that I like to poke fun at Darren, and while researching for this post I saw the following picture:


What on earth is going on with that waist coat Daz!?!

I don't actually know the name of this new radio station - if you do, can you share it with us all?

Are you listening to HiFM lately, or am I the only one?! What do you all think about it? I honestly feel it's gotten a lot better than it was - how about you? If you do listen to the radio - why do you listen?

le fin.

Something for the weekend?

Ahh, Wednesday has arrived once again!

I guess the biggest entertainment news of the weekend is that tomorrow is the opening day of the Grand Circus down at Marah Land (Qurum Park). Thanks to the Omani Brit over on English Girl in Oman for posting the flyer (it's nice to see you blogging again!)


Tickets start at RO 2, and go up to RO 5 for a VIP pass - no clue what that gets you though - probably better seating I'm guessing. The show is rumoured to be 2 hours long, starting at 7pm. It's running for a month so it will hopefully be something many of us can go along and see.

Now, on a more serious note, I read yesterday with some concern over on another local blogger Mimi of Shy Rebellious Arab Girl about the plight of blind Dhofari women. According to her findings, it appears to be the general trend that blind Dhofari women are kept out of sight in their family houses and remain uneducated for their entire lives. I hope that this is not true, but if it is, something must be done for these poor women. Certainly more attention needs to be paid to those who are differently abled here in the Sultanate.

And finally, a shout out to the Muscat Rugby 1st XV who are flying to Kuwait this weekend for the season opener - good luck! Their first home game is next weekend against Bahrain (the winners of the last season) which should prove to be a stiff challenge for the local lads.

le fin.