News from Saudi Arabia brings refreshing nuggets of information that Ladies will now have the opportunity to exercise at sport centres. It hasn't happened yet, but this another step to freedom against the zealots worried that the women's hymen's would break.

Saudi Arabia has set up a ministerial committee to consider allowing women's sports clubs, al-Watan daily newspaper reported on Saturday, despite opposition to female exercise from religious conservatives. Abdullah al-Zamil, a senior official from the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the top Saudi sporting body, said the committee was being formed to end the "chaos" surrounding women's sports clubs which are effectively unregulated, Watan reported. 

"The mission of the committee is focused on building a system for these clubs," the newspaper, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, reported Zamil as saying. In the austere desert kingdom, powerful clerics have long argued against women playing sports or doing physical exercise, forcing female gyms to be designated as expensive "health centres". A member of the top clerical body in 2009 said girls should not play sports lest they lose their virginity by tearing their hymens. State-run girls schools are banned from doing sports, but private girls schools are allowed to offer sports classes. 

Reuters

The story of the tire fire in Kuwait caught our eye this week gone, due to its extraordinary environmental impact, but it went more or less unnoticed by the main stream press. 5 million tires on fire, supposedly set alight by scrap metal hoarders.  But the impact of the fire was only made clear when you saw a photo. Only one man was able to do that with impact. 5 million tires. 1000 words. 1 photo. 1 man. Mohammed ALSULTAN. Amazing.

Kuwait Tire Fire by Mohammed ALSULTAN

Not much to say here except that it costs $5500 and you can get it from Damas in Dubai, although created by gold and co. And where can you buy it from? Dubai, of course - Dubai is the city of Gold .

and don't worry if your ipad stays next to your sofa in your majlis, and you want to show off a bit more, the gold iPhone 4s is still available:

In fact, you could probably get whatever you wanted, if you are a bbm fiend, no problem, your blackberry comes in gold as well:

Anyway, if you are that way inclined, head down to Damas in Dubai Mall to check it out. But if you're really going to buy it - I'm sure you don't need us to tell you it's available.

Gold and co
Launch

Over the years we have brought to you camel milk chocolate, the benefits of it, and camel milk ice cream - and now we bring you the camelccino. Your coffee heaven with a splash of double hump juice. Don't be afraid, Starbucks aren't changing their mocha frapuccino any time soon. Actually the news that CNN reported on 2 days ago, isn't really news, as it's been on the menu for some time, most notably at the Emirates Palace. And camel milk can be purchased in most supermarkets. (it's a little bitter though).

Camel milk has been a staple for Bedouins for centuries, but it has never before been produced in scale or used commercially in this way. For Emiratis, it is a way of combining local pride with a healthy option. Camel milk is lower in fat and higher in Vitamin C than cow's milk, according to scientists."In the milk are all the vitamins, all the minerals, fat, carbohydrates, that you need for daily life," said Ulrich Wernery, scientific director of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory. 


But can you see it being staple? Camel milk on its own tastes a little weird in my humble opinion, but mikes it up with an espresso and you certainly wont have the hump. Next time you are at the Emirates Palace, try one - it's 35 AED. 



Forget cappuccino, Dubai drinkers get a taste for camel-ccino

The recent announcement that the life sized starship enterprise project has been scrapped sounded like a story that could have come from Dubai - but it's in fact a project that was penned for Las Vegas. That's somewhat ironic given how Dubai was likened to Las Vegas when it was growing over the last 10 years. Either way, the project has been given the no go. From theVerge:

You'd think Las Vegas was ostentatious enough already, but details have emerged of a canceled project that would have rivaled Sin City's gaudiest excesses — a full-sized reconstruction of the Starship Enterprise. The model would have featured a fully-modeled interior with tours of famous rooms and locations, and there were also plans to have Star Trek-themed live shows inside. Designer Gary Goddard's $150 million concept actually won a competition put on by the city in 1992 to find a new attraction for Vegas' downtown area, but ultimately got denied by Paramount's COO Stanley Jaffe who was worried about damage to the brand should the project not have been a success.

The worry that Paramount's COO had was that it would be a flop! As all trekkies know, this would almost become a pilgrimage site!

Let's do this.


I still think something like this has legs and could work. It is a great idea - and I think it would work amazingly in Dubai. After all, Dubai has put its hat in the game for the culture card - and what a great tribute to modern day culture. The only thing that could trump something like this with the tech geek type demographic is Star Wars (maybe that's something else worth pursuing?) This also ties into Dubai being a tourist hub - imagine the number of trekkies who would visit annually.

The next thing is how do we convince Stanley that this is not going to damage brand. I think we can time limit the attraction to 10 years, which will give a large enough return - and if successful, build out further. With money and backing, this has a very low chance of failure, and I'm sure everyone is looking for a sure bet in this climate. And the other thing about brand. If there is ever a place that had managed to maintain itself despite the criticism, it's Dubai. It ain't going away over night and despite the crisis - the place is still a tourist hub with a high end skew.


Anyway, I would like to broker the deal with whoever is in charge? Can someone hook me up? If not - live long and prosper - and I'll continue dreaming. 


More reasons from the architect of the idea, Gary Goddard

Beautiful Time lapse Video from Richard Bentley that gives a real feel for the Dubai Neighbourhoods, predominantly at night. Enjoy!


Dubai 2.0 from Richard Bentley on Vimeo.


Hat tip to the I love Dubai Facebook Group