I went to see… Piaf: Une vie en rose et noir – A life in pink and black

French chanteuse Edith Piaf is a legend.
Outside of France, the world may only recently have discovered the impact of the ‘little sparrow’ (the meaning of “piaf’” in French) with the success of the Oscar winning movie “La Vie en Rose” , starring Marion Cotillard, but in France, Edith Piaf has long been a symbol of national pride and indomitable French spirit – a woman brought up on the “mean streets” of Paris, who battled against all odds to become the country’s most popular entertainer. No other French singer is quite so widely known, wildly adored or has been more ‘mythologized’. And for good reason: Edith Piaf’s life reads like a soap opera, a real rollercoaster of drama.

In the musical story of her life, “Une Vie En Rose Et Noir”, the play gives a more rounded overview of her life than in the movie, which focuses more on her suffering. I appreciated that very much since I had worried it would be a diluted version of the film. It wasn’t. The format of the show was simple though: her trials and tribulations were brought to life through her songs, interpreted by Nathalie Lhermitte (whose voice has long been compared to Piaf’s), accompanied only by an accordionist, and interwoven with biographical inserts and key facts narrated by journalist and critique, Jacques Pessis. Also, since it was entirely in French, I was surprised to find that more than half the audience was from every other nationality and still connected with the music and could follow her story through the songs.
I treated myself to a great "first class" seat - 4th row centre. Money well spent indeed for Nathalie Lhermitte was superb both in voice and play and it was great to hear all the great songs I love so much.
A great, wonderful evening indeed!

Dubai Annual Art Exhibition

What a great idea ART DUBAI is! Internationally selected art pieces - these 2 from Indian artists - to view in a surreal setting like the Madinat Juneirah Hotel make for a memorable experience indeed!

The setting itself is worth sharing with you.

The exhibit stretched out to include the exterior, along the 'river'. In fact, one could make it a whole day affair, going back and forth, sipping a drink on the terrace when tired, then coming back indoors for more viewing, do a little shopping, alittle more viewing, stop for a little shisha smoking, and then get a lovely dinner by candlelight at the end of the day!

Notice the decorative details around the gallery area...


I particularly enjoyed this drawing... it made me think of Benjamin! I thought it was wonderfully kind and generous of this Korean artist to show where her inspiration came from and give it humble tribute.

Fascinating in its quintessence! ...

And what about Ghandi?!!! His path of passive resistance is remarkably well interpreted in these definitely contemporary pieces , don't you think?! This by itself, abundantly justified my time spent at the exhibit!

A fresh Oasis at lunch time…

I found this little oasis outside the FedEx office building. What a treat on a hot day!

There is also a lovely cafeteria on the ground floor that caters to the employees of the 4 buildings complex which makes the place very lively at lunch time.

A GREAT LITTLE FIND!

The pilgrim IBN BATTUTA

This week-end, I went to a shopping mall dedicated to Ibn Battuta.
Ibn Battuta is a famous 14th century traveler. A pilgrim.
He started his travels when he was 20 years old in 1325.
His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, a Pilgrimage to Mecca, as all good Muslims are required to do.
But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles, visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries which were then mostly under the governments of Muslim leaders.
He met many dangers and had many adventures along the way. He was attacked by bandits, almost drowned in a sinking ship, was almost beheaded by a tyrant ruler, and had a few marriages and lovers and fathered several children on his travels!
Near the end of Ibn Battuta's life, the Sultan of Morocco insisted that he dictate the story of his travels to a scholar. So today, we can read translations of that story called "Rihla - My Travels". Much of it is fascinating, but some of it seems to be made up and even is inaccurate about places we know about. However, it is a valuable and interesting record of places which add to our understanding of the Middle Ages.

The shopping mall is separated in “courts” representing the different countries Ibn Battuta visited (Tunisia, Egypt, Persia, India, China), including architectural details and historical exhibits.

The Mall is forever long, so walking shoes are in order!
Knowing me and my love of travel to exotic places, you must realize I thought I’d be in heaven; but at Ibn Battuta mall, shopping for 21st century items and taking a Starbuck coffee break make for a very weird and somewhat exciting experience indeed… I thought I’d try to capture some of this air-conditioned Middle-East world tour to share with you…

Taking a Starbucks break under an exquisite Persian Dome - the tiling might be accurate but the feeling is 'Starbucks-ish' .... and it left me... 'disenchanted'.

I had an american breakfast of eggs and bacon at the Havana cafe, right here, in this Taj Mahal wannabe ...
Can it get any more weir than that?

Yes it can! These very modern Emiratee women are crossing into the Chinese court, shopping for very modern Rolex... while a full size replica of a chinese dhow stands, full sails out, in front of a 'lamb-roast-and-frangrant-spices-smelling' Iranian restaurant!
I baught a Peruvian woven hat at Ibn Battuta mall. I spent the rest of the weekend indoors because of a sand storm that made driving treacherous and breathing strenuous.
Life is definitely not dull in Dubai.

About wind towers

Here is an answer to a very pertinent question about wind towers

A windcatcher (Bâdgir; بادگیر) is a traditional Persian architectural device used for many centuries to create natural ventilation in buildings. It is not known who first invented the windcatcher, but it still can be seen in many countries today. Windcatchers come in various designs, such as the uni-directional, bi-directional, and multi-directional.
Central Iran has a very large day-night temperature difference, ranging from cool to extremely hot, and the air tends to be very dry all day long. Most buildings are constructed of very thick ceramics with extremely high insulation values. Furthermore, towns centered on desert oases tend to be packed very closely together with high walls and ceilings relative to Western architecture, maximizing shade at ground level. The heat of direct sunlight is minimized with small windows that don't face the sun.

Function
The windcatcher functions on several principles:
First, a windcatcher is capped and has several directional ports at the top (Traditionally four). By closing all but the one facing away from the incoming wind, air is drawn upwards using the Coanda effect, similar to how opening the one facing the wind would push air down the shaft. This generates significant cooling ventilation within the structure below, but is not enough to bring the temperature below ambient alone - it would simply draw hot air in through any cracks or windows in the structure below.
Therefore, the key to generating frigid temperatures seems to be that there are very few cracks at the base of the thick structure below, but there is a significant air gap above the qanat. A qanat has quite a lot of water inside, because there are frequent well-like reservoirs along its path. Completely shaded from the sun, a qanat also aggregates the cold, sinking air of the night, which is then trapped within, unable to rise up to the less dense surface air. A windcatcher, however, can create a pressure gradient which sucks at least a small amount of air upwards through a house. This cool, dry night air, being pulled over a long passage of water, evaporates some of it and is cooled down further.
Finally, in a windless environment or waterless house, a windcatcher functions as a stack effect aggregator of hot air. It creates a pressure gradient which allows less dense hot air to travel upwards and escape out the top. This is also compounded significantly by the day-night cycle mentioned above, trapping cool air below. The temperature in such an environment can't drop below the nightly low temperature. These last two functions have gained some ground in Western architecture, and there are several commercial products using the name windcatcher.
When coupled with thick adobe that exhibits high heat transmission resistance qualities (R-value), the windcatcher is able to chill lower level spaces in mosques and houses (e.g. shabestan) in the middle of the day to frigid temperatures.
So effective has been the windcatcher in Persian architecture that it has been routinely used as a refrigerating device (yakhchal) for ages. Many traditional water reservoirs (ab anbars) are built with windcatchers that are capable of storing water at near freezing temperatures for months in summer. High humidity environments destroy the evaporative cooling effect enjoyed in the dry conditions seen on the Iranian plateau; Hence the ubiquitous use of these devices in drier areas such as Yazd, Kashan, Nain, and Bam. This is especially visible in ab anbars that use windcatchers.
A small windcatcher (badgir) is called a "shish-khan" in traditional Persian architecture. Shish-khans can still be seen on top of ab anbars in Qazvin, and other northern cities in Iran. These seem to be more designed as a pure ventilating device, as opposed to temperature regulators, as their larger cousins in the central deserts of Iran are.

Illustration of use of windcatcher and qanat for cooling.

Very old Dubai wind tower
Old-fashioned air-conditioning! The tower catches wind from four directions and channels it down into the house.

Leasurely moments

There you go Louis! I told you I was gonna print your olive oil art work!
It's the perfect spot for it too: over the kitchen counter where I eat breakfast and next to the dining table.
Very appetizing and jovial (since it looks like Olive had a litle wine to accompany her olive oil dip!)
don't you think?

OK.
You guys know me: I just HAD to do it....
I had to move some furniture around!


For those who don't know, a little transformation goes a long way in my world!
So, the little console moved from the living room to the bedroom...

along with some of Benjamin's "Art work", strategically dispersed so I can always have some in my view...

And I got new bedsheets to "tame" the red. Ahhh.........
With some jewelry and photos to further personalize the space.
Et Voila!

Always allowing the artist in me to wonder at my surroundings, I look for interesting things as I drive around.
And the wind towers are certainly one of the most remarquable structural landscapes of the Middle East!
At a red light stop, I take a snapshot... I would love to incorporate this unique feature in some future painting...

Yesterday after work, I came and sat at this fountain at the Marina. As the sun was setting at the end of a hot day (30c), I rested and relaxed, listening to the children play, enjoying the breeze, the freshness of the water splashing and the sweet perfume of the water pipes (sheesha) from the Arabian cafe nearby...

And I acknowledged to myself that I was, at this moment, very happy to be.

A foggy day…. In Dubai Town…

A thick blanket of fog has been hanging over the city for the last week. So much so, it has affected the airport activities. It has reappeared every morning but has generally lifted by 10:00am to let the sunshine in for the rest of the day. It is unfortunately accompanied by strong gusts of wind that lift the sand in the air. Let it be known: Blowing winds and sand make for very painful eye irritation!

The jet lag adjustment is finally coming to its slow end. I therefore had plenty of time to reflect and figure out work issues in the middle of the night throughout the week. This is why I managed to take these very early morning fog shots…and breakfast meal. Note the Arabic label on the milk bottle. I thought it might bring a smile to some of you readers, out there!

The boxes of goodies I sent via FedEX have made their way here; so I hastily dug out the ‘art works’ to personalize my apartment. As you can see, precedence is allocated to my favorite artist, Benjamin Guillaume Halko. Obviously more art pieces are needed to cover the eye sores that populate this red space!My TV is finally working! See: I can catch the nightly ‘Daily Show’ - at 7:00am!

This early morning photo shows the domesticity of my little day-to-day life here, with laundry drying by the door while I take my breakfast watching the news from the previous day! I can watch CNN, the BBC and TV5 as well as the local ‘Dubai One’ channel and a few others in English (children channels and old movies). I also get a few other channels which I don’t watch because they are in Arabic, Pakistani or Indian, Pilipino and German.

I now have a car! A little Toyota Corolla. I haven’t been venturing too far yet because the street maps still puzzle me and the drivers still frighten me! I intend to spend my day off – Friday – roaming around and getting my bearings. Who knows what I’ll discover next!