sheikh killed the radio star?

Whoa, it's been over a week since I last posted! They always say that you don't feel the time in Dubai and I'm starting to realize it right now with my feet starting to tingle from not having sat down all day. I just took over a couple major product lines for Johnson and Johnson in the Middle East, which is really exciting but quite an addition to my workload. Either way, tonight I was looking to unwind on the way home with the usual flip between Dubai 92 and Dubai One 104.1 and was shocked to hear DeBussy's Clair de Lune instead of the usual UK top 40. Last night Sheikh Nasser bin Zayed passed away in a helicopter crash - he is the brother of the UAE's President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. I can safely say that I've never experienced or will experience again living in a place where everything shuts down for three days of mourning, including television and radio stations in memory of a political figure. Let's just say that people here do not take such losses lightly. You can read a bit more about Sheikh Nasser here.

Looking back on the last week, my boy Ahmed Bukhatir rocked it out at the concert he had. Mind you, he was singing Islamic hymns in a cappella, but they sounded great nonetheless. I also had a chance to attend a really crazy and out of this world desert rave on Friday night called SOS in the Desert.

The evening involved a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere in the desert, followed by a 10 minute ride in a SUV that dune bashed its way into a man made hole (flat valley of sand with decorative tables low to the ground and plumbing) in the sand surrounded by sand walls that would echo the sounds of Audiotonic and world famous djs. The night was accompanied with unlimited Arabic bbq (think grilled kebabs, hummus, tabouli, Arabic bread, etc) and lots of other tasty treats (think black label, red bull, Stoli, etc). The "rave" scene here, I imagine, does not compare to other parts of the world where you merit a slap on the wrist for drug possession... Getting caught with such in the UAE is not worth the battle or the risk, so people for the most part were tame and under control. I met some fun Lebanese kids in the process, which made the evening even better. Although I'd never been to a 'rave' before, i'd say attending one in the desert was a nice start.