slacking off with too much to tell

Matt: Yes, it's been a very long time, I'm sorry. I really have been extremely busy with work and play.

The end of April saw an amazing trip to Nepal with Lenny, Barry, Rebecca, Annalisa and Matt. It was great, hiking, paragliding, cycling, caving, camping, white water rafting, kayaking. Really enjoyed the whole experience, even with the political uprising, tension, beatings and everywhere being forcibly closed by the Maoist.

Photo Selection here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=432068&id=600455211&l=eaafd58e5a

Since coming back there has been even more fun and games. I got older for one, but my birthday seemed to last almost a week, so thanks to all my wonderful friends who made it a lot of fun.

During that time I did a multitude of activities: InDoor Skydiving, Standup Paddle Boarding, Wakeboarding, Skyride climbing, Social gatherings. All a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure you're all bored of the 'Look what I did now' style blog, so I'll plan to find more interesting things to write about.

Ciao 4 Niao

Can I help?

Matt: As I wandered through a mall today, hence forth known as 'the Mall', I passed a member of the Mall staff, a smily fellow, bedecked with black, Mall branded atire which bore the slogan "Can I help you?" emblazoned across it in sunburst yellow. Now I'm sure the wearer wasn't really concerned about his own ability to actually provide help, so it must be others that are unsure of his capacity. But why these 'others', be them Mall management, marketers, branding gurus or designers, thought that I might be able to answer this question baffles me. Perhaps the question wasn't directed at me personally, perhaps there was someone in the Mall, at the same time as me, that is better qualified to answer this almost rhetorical banana coloured query.

Living in the UAE we are accustom to living in a cultural and ethnic mixing pot, where, to be fair to most, English may not be the majority's first language. Are we then remiss to accept grammatical faux pas such as the above example without even a stopping to consider it?

Don't get me wrong, I'm no spelling or grammar Nazi, I make mistakes, A LOT! I'm just curious as to whether we should pass comment, correct or ignore? Or has the situation gotten so bad that most of us native English speakers don't even notice some of these errors anymore, have we come to accept and even use them ourselves?

I think the Can/May error is extremely common in everyday speech now, what other errors can you find that are overlooked in the English language these days? Or even simple errors or bad English, I'm not asking you to regurgitate the writings of Lynne Truss here, I'm just interested to find some classic advertising/marketing cock-ups.

Don't even get me started on text messaging and chat abbreviations and I wonder how many of you will just pick me up on my errors? Save yourself the time - you'll be hours finding them all :)

As for the question as it should, correctly, be written "May I help you?", shouldn't that come with about 16 pages of legal terms defining what The Mall considers that it's staff should and should not, can and cannot, may and may not actually help with? What's to stop me walking up to the poor, unsuspecting fellow and asking him to help me ram-raid the jewelers on the ground level in section C? Do you think my branded mall helper is armed with the correct response to such a request?

Hmmmm....

So what's been happening?

Matt: Since we last spoke, We got a team together and entered the Wadi Bih relay again this year. It's the 3rd time I've run the race and it's always an entertaining day. Scott and Lucy we out of action this year so we dragged in the Irish (Ciaran and Abbie - to be sure *cringe, sorry!*). They seemed to really enjoy the day thankfully.

The boys, Lenny, Ciaran and I, all camped out on Dibba beach the night before the race. The girls, Kelly and Abbie, decided the 2 hour drive at 6am was much more preferable. We all set off from the start-line at around 8am, ran up the mountain to 1,000 metres above sea level and then back down for a total of 72km and concluded the run at around 2pm - where we were presented with medals and a much needed buffet lunch. Exhausting but fun. The vibe is very relaxed and all the other teams scream encouragement at you when you're running.

All in all a great day :)

Ciaran runs in the blistering heat.. trooper!

Beach Olympics

Matt: I got roped into (pardon the pun, see pic above) joining Nail, Syma and Friends for a day of competitive fun at the Duplays Beach Olympics last weekend.

It was a great day out on the beach, playing all manner of games against 32 other teams of 8. We managed to win all 4 tug-of-war games, weren't quite as successful at Volley Ball, Dodge Ball, but we very respectable. I can't believe how exhausting pulling on a rope can be. Was shattered.

Ultimately a good cause

Matt: The teams were gathered, it would be a showdown like no other, well kinda similar to last years tournament but that's not the point, the field was set, the warring factions drawn (read friendly players), the battle was ready to rage on through the scorching heat. Yes, we gathered at the American School of Dubai for another Ultimate Frisbee Charity Tournament, the third of it's kind. DUCE as it's now fondly known, Dubai Ultimate Charity Event

We raised a total of $10,500 for the charities - Schools in remote parts of India.

It's a really fun day, with people coming from all over the place to join in, we had teams from Saudi joining us this year.

A word from the organisers:
"The DUCE Tournament provided exciting examples of teamwork and athleticism, all in the spirit of friendly competition. We had raffle prizes, a BBQ and our Room to Read Café served up some treats in a nice quiet atmosphere. Certainly, if you could make it there was something for you to enjoy. Of course, we cannot organize these events without the support and donation of valuable time by our faculty and parents. DUCE was no exception and on what was a very busy weekend for our community, people came out and showed their support. For this we are very grateful."

Exploration

Matt: We went exploring - Jon and I took ourselves off into the unknown last weekend to see if we could create some new hikes, well one at least. We scouted the terrain in the Twain region on google earth and set off.

After nearly 2 hours of driving, and winding down some rugged tracks, we found ourselves at a large dam spanning the base of a wide wadi, the Twain Dam, so we did the courteous thing and drove up it and parked the car. Crossed the dam and set off to get to the top of the nearest peak.

It proved to be a pretty tough climb, with no path and a few false summits. But we eventually saw something that became our goal, a large billowing UAE flag a few kilometres away and a few hundred metres above us.

The terrain was reasonable flat, and crisscrossed with track where clearly quarrying companies had been prospecting for new sites. We climbed a steep track up towards the flag, it was surprisingly steeper than it appeared from a distance. "Oh the burn" cried Lenny, while I was concentrating on my funny walk to prevent an already large blister from getting worse, Stupidly decided to wear thick woolen sock and a pair of boots that I don't normally hike it. Idiot!

We made it and it gave us an impressive view of the wadis below, where there was a hugh amount of quarrying going on. It also afforded us a view of other potential areas to explore. After a spot of lunch we made our way back to the car.



We made it..



A game of CTF anyone?

UAECC Meet

Matt: This year a slightly new team are entering the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Sean and Paul are still at the core, but they are joined by Fransua and Darren.

I met with the boys yesterday to see how things are progressing and make some plans. We're launching a new website to be more interactive and interesting. I'll let you know when it's ready for general consumption.

The efforts of the team went down so well last year and the money raising is already going amazingly. We have a few points to action and a lot more effort is required. Please give your moral support and help raise awareness of the guys. Every little helps and they are really having to work so hard for this, it's inspiring.

www.uaecharitychallenge.com - It's not fully ready yet, but looks good so far.

Gulf News Fun Drive

Matt: I'm just back from the Gulf News Fun Drive, a moderately tame event where 750 cars convoy through the desert for 200 Kms. It was great fun, in the most part. Kelly was reporting and so we had to get stories of interest from some of the participants. We also had Megan and Asraf onboard, photographer and videographer. It was entertaining seeing the bedlam that can be caused by inexperienced desert drivers and sheer numbers.


Some aspects were somewhat dangerous and frightening to witness. We kept clear of the carnage, pardon the most, as best we could. It was great to get the new toy out in the dunes though. More on that later :)

Off to Annalisa's 30th Birthday now, Happy Birthday kiddo.

As aye.

Fight in Dubai

Matt: There is a new game in development based in Dubai after a series of catastrophic sandstorms lay waste to the place. This could make a for a very interesting setting, the developer, 2K Games, are adding sand physics to the game as a new play mechanic, this could also prove interesting.

Have a look at this preview over on Gamespot:

Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter that tells the story of Captain Walker, the leader of an elite military outfit known as Delta Force. Walker is sent to the heart of the once-wealthy Dubai, which has been ravaged by vicious sandstorms, leaving the city in ruins.

Wave

Matt: Been looking into Google Wave, interesting bit of kit and has great potential. But will it overtake the social networks? It looks simple, but will probably be viewed as a bit confusing and techie for most people. Plus it's new and considered 'change' we're none to good at dealing with change.

Check out the demonstration of the early product that is Google Wave. Let me know your thoughts.

Christmas Past

Matt: The financial ghost of Christmas past still haunt me. This Christmas just gone was different, in a very good way (if not a little costly). My entire family, the Wilson Clan and their spouses and children flew to Dubai to spend Christmas with their number one son, Me.

What an awesome Christmas and one I know I will not forget in a hurry and I hope the same goes for the family. We got up to all the touristy delights that Dubai has to offer. From playing in the snow in Ski Dubai, to a luxurious visit to the Burj Al Arab.

Enjoy the pics: Click Me

Having to show people, especially loved one, your surroundings and the joys of where you live certainly make you see things with fresh eyes again. We often take so many things for granted - look what is just outside you door and think when was the last time you really appreciated it? Having the family here reminded me how diverse and interesting Dubai actually is, it's too easy to criticise Dubai for many things, but look at all the different nationalities that you encounter living in peace and relative safety, daily. Have you ever been to a music concert and looked across the crowd here in Dubai? It's a sea of multi-national harmony (Pardon the pun), you're stood shoulder-to-shoulder with people from every walk of life and every nationality, all there to enjoy a shared appreciation of music and peacefully.

Look around you and appreciate what you have, be it people, environment, luxuries, health.. really be grateful and make the most of it - just for one day stop wanting the next best thing and look at what you've already got - you're rich if you actually take a minute to stop and think about it.

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2010.