Fake Plastic Fruits - #180

Real tomatoes, real people - fake street scene.

A market film set. Bur Dubai 2007.

The Kids Are Alright - a/k/a Take 5 - #179

In the old Bastakiya area of Bur Dubai I came across a film set...

Spent almost an hour there - really interesting... maybe more shots to come...

The XVA a/k/a - Every Corner Has A Purpose #178

A common complaint of Dubai is the lack of culture. A huge antidote to this is the XVA and the Majlis Gallery.

This shot is of a corner, at the top of some stairs. I like it, one hopes you do too...

This is a great space with some really interesting art. In the same area is the Majlis - a very cool place to visit.

Every corner has a purpose.

Here is of the XVA courtyard

The Pregnant Lady - #177

Three well known Dubai buildings on the bank of the Creek. The one in the middle is nicknamed The Pregnant Lady as it has a bank of glass windows with a gentle verticla bulging curve to it, which gives it the appearance of a pregnant lady.

Taken Friday morning, a stunning day - great temperature, nice skies, at this time of year Dubai is very nice.

Wudu And Salah - #176

Cleanliness is an important precondition for proper Islamic worship.

Ray Of Light - #175

A Dubai club moment. Tiesto at Chi, Dubai.

You Can Choose Your Friends... #174

(this post has been edited from the original as the original comment seems to be having the undesired effect of upsetting some people. The post was never intended to have this effect - if it did I would leave it here, but it was not meant in the way it appears to be intrpreted. I may well remove this post entirely...)

The saying goes, you can choose your friends but not your family.

They are one of the biggest construction companies in the region...

Bin Ladin Family

The Infamous DXB series - pt 3 of 3 - The Palm - #173

The final iconic infamous addition to any city... The Palm. A man made expanse of real estate meets beach. An ecological nightmare? A financial boon? A shimering white elephant? All is yet to be seen.

The one thing I can say is it looks like nothing else I've ever seen...

The Infamous DXB series - pt 2 of 3 - The World - #172

The World islands that are being constructed just off the coast of Dubai.

The big question is not if they will sell, more will they actually be usable... you buy the island for approx 5 to 10 US$million. That's it. You have to build your house, install water and electricity (which no one is willing to supply!) and then you have to work out where to park your boat and car on the mainland...

You can see the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel towards the top right on the coast.

The Infamous DXB Series - Pt 1 of 3 - The SZR - #171

Shot 1 - Sheikh Zayed Road

I know I featured some ariel shots before, however these are fresh and of DXB Centrale... these were taken from my flight to Bahrain on Friday morning.

These shots are for info more than photo prowess! Taken from a plane so not the best photo conditions... please forgive!

This is a shot of Sheikh Zayed Road, the highest towers in Dubai and also the main thoroughfare.

A different view of the skyline of 2 days ago... again, Burj Dubai far right and the Emirates Towers on the left.

Current Skyline - #170

As it changes so often, I thought I'd give you an update Dubai skyline.

Second from left is now the seventh tallest building in the world, at 103 floors it is about two thirds built and will be the highest in the world by the end of the year at approx 700 to 800m high. Far right is the twin towers of Emirates Towers Hotel and Business Tower...

A Portrait Of A Plane - #169

Phew, just back in time... was in Bahrain for 1 night - interesting place, but that's another story...

A portrait of a plane - DXB Airport, Feb 17th 2007.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - #168

I quit almost a year ago and 100% think it's great not smoking - so why does this look so cool? Damn those clever marketing people...

Flight Path - #167

This is not Hong Kong. This is Dubai.

I wish I could have flown in to the old, pre Norman Foster, Hong Kong airport just once...

Big Blue

A kid loses their balloons.

Somewhere a clown cries.

A big blue from Bluey.

Rehearsals For Dubai Urban Ballet Squad - #165

I love the fluid motion of the dancers. This is one world class honed troupe that can really move...

Oriental Cranes In Arabia - #164

... no, not big beaky birds.

Just big ol' hunks of metal. But I kinda like some bits about them.

More Cafe - #163

A great place for some fresh and tasty food called More Cafe.

There are 2 of these in Dubai - one in Garhoud and one in the Murooj Rotana across the road from the Burj Dubai.

A fine choice for really good salads and a top eggs benedict.

Rooftop Vista - #162

A rooftop view of Deira, the old town part of Dubai.

An Arabian Monochromatic - #161

Yesterday we were on a high...and here is the low.

D.F.A. a/k/a Deira From Above - #160

All streets just look cooler from either 1 inch above the pavement or from a near vertical angle.

I just liked this normal scene. Its mundane appearance appeals to me. An urban delight.

P.S. The title of the post is D.F.A., this originally meant Death From Above - however I choose to reference this DFA from a couple of musos based in NYC, James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy who call themselves the DFA and also the LCD Soundsystem. Have a look for the track "Losing My Edge".

Why do I tell you this? Just 'cos they're good.

Down And Out In Deira? - #159

I think this is more of a recline than an economic malise... perhaps?

A Farewell To Arms - #158

The last in the UAE football victory series. I had such a good few hours experiencing the joy somewhat vicariously from the sidelines.

Tell you what - it makes a massive change to see people enjoying the football matches like this than how the more traditional homes of football like England and Italy behave...

Parade Panning - #157

A series of panning shots taken from the parade. Inspired by Lisi, author of the most fine hongkongdailyphoto. And Lisi, the camel was way too fast... next time maybe....

Kid A And His Amazing Technicolour Kundura - #156

I'm sure this kid will remember not only this day and the parade, but also his team's biggest victory for many years.

An Arabian Celebration - Part 1 of a series - #155

An amazing day! A huge "victory parade" occurred today due to the UAE winning the Gulf Cup football for the first time ever. This was like nothing I'd, or maybe even Dubai, had ever seen before.

A gathering point was announced, traffic was alerted to possible disruption. Oh my god. Disruption? Talk about a 3 hour carnival of illegal speed, craziness and just mad behaviour.

A number of firsts.

For SZR - Doughnuts and quads allowed.
For SZR - Kids on Nissans.
For the UAE - The first football Gulf Cup Victory.
For Bluey - panning shots

A second series for Bluey - more to come this week.

Well, Did Bob Evah? - #154

Every once in a while I'll try a "Bob Shot". A "Bob Shot" is named after Barcelona Daily Photo's Bob - taking shots of people from a very low angle.

See Bluey's Homage To Bob which was part of a theme day and of course here Bob's own work.

This shot was taken in Andiamos! - a restaurant in the Grand Hyatt in Dubai and a very nice way to spend a Friday afternoon with fine food, friends and vino.

And as a sneaky bonus shot, here is a Bob shot I took in London recently, I really like the time / motion leg effect.

What Annoys Me About Dubai - Theme Day - #153

EDIT - What annoys me most right now is that no one has been able to post a comment due to a blogger issue - sorry to all - very annoying, yet somewhat ironic... grrr....

It's now fixed...

(The author readily apologises for the lack of a picture of a radio advert, but if you need it for context this photo was taken while listening to Catboy on Dubai 92FM)

Todays theme is "What really annoys you about my city" - This was a tricky theme for me. I love Dubai and I don't like negative stimulation for a start...

Anyways - some things are obvious, such as traffic and construction.

There are other annoying things in Dubai. Namely radio ads. In fact the most annoying thing in Dubai is radio ads. That's it.

There are greater problems, more sad crimes, higher moral injustices and more significant intolerance that occur in Dubai - however in terms of annoyance (which in the grand scheme of things should be in the realm of the tolerable) the most obvious day to day relatively bearable annoyances are radio adverts, traffic and construction.

50 Daily Photo sites are participating in the 1st December theme, "What really annoys you about my city", please use the links to below to visit them.

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

1 (Porto (Portugal) ) -2 (Stayton, OR (USA) ) -3 (Albuquerque, NM (USA) ) -4 (Tenerife (Spain) ) -5 (Greenville, SC (USA) ) -6 (Dubai (U.A.E.) ) -7 (Evry (France) ) -8 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) -9 (London (UK) ) -10 (Sequim, WA (USA) ) -11 (Buenos Aires, (Argentina) ) -12 (Seattle, WA (USA) ) -13 (Minneapolis, MN (USA) ) -14 (Stavanger (Norway) ) -15 (Joplin , MO (USA) ) -16 (Nelson, New Zealand ) -17 (Milano, Italy ) -18 (Singapore (KeropokMan) ) -19 (La Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala) ) -20 (Nottingham UK ) -21 (Singapore by Zannnie (Singapore) ) -22 (Budapest (Hungary) ) -23 (Not Strictly Seattle, ) -24 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) -25 (Vantaa (Finland) ) -26 (Hyde (UK) ) -27 (Madrid by Dsole (Spain) ) -28 (Oulu (Finland) ) -29 (Saarbr?cken (Germany) ) -30 (St. Paul [Carol] ) -31 (Sydney (Australia) ) -32 (Tokyo (Japan) ) -33 (Kyoto (Japan) ) -34 (Trujillo (Peru) ) -35 (Shanghai (China) ) -36 (Rotterdam (NL) ) -37 (Chicago, IL (USA) ) -38 (Nice, (France) ) -39 (Naples, Florida (USA) ) -40 (Hong Kong ) -41 (Santa Clara, CA (USA) ) -42 (Quito, Ecuador (South America) ) -43 (Cottage Grove, MN (USA) ) -44 (Paris, (France) ) -45 (Manila (Philippines) ) -46 (Brussels (Belgium) ) -47 (Auckland (New Zealand) ) -48 (Newcastle upon Tyne(England)) -49 (Houston, TX (USA) ) -50 (Sydney by Nathalie (Australia)) -