PARAPLEXED, formerly 'The Paranormal Hotel' and originally 'Helga's Chickens'

Still Life with Wheelbarrow, Truck and Candelabra

2012-01-28T17:16:00.000+03:00

I have no idea what the candelabra was doing there, perched on a half demolished wall in Muntazah, and judging from its very French shrugging posture, it probably didn't know either. Even within the category of 'things you'd miss if you were driving a car', this little tableau was unexpected, to say the least. If you have lost a candelabra and suspect this might be it, let me know and I'll

Questioning the Beggar and Raising the Dead

2012-01-27T15:28:00.000+03:00

Such is the deplorable degradation of modern-day English that many of us have forgotten all but the simplest formulae for effective communication. Indeed, it has become apparent that few, if any, of the under-93's have enough basic linguistic acumen even to question the beggar correctly. spare some change? Take the miserable specimen on the right, a typical sample of modern London's street

David & Auntie - or - The Unfortunate Deleterious Effect of an Elderly Relative on a Reproduction of a Great Work of Art

2012-01-21T14:59:00.000+03:00

A year ago, it must have been, when Auntie said you looked obscene and fashioned out of plasticine a fig-leaf, roughly cut. Your private parts no longer seen she turned to dinner, but what's out of sight is out of mind- and Auntie didn't seem to find the need to cover your behind- and so you were forgotten, and maybe she was being kind but the result was rotten. A year has passed since

The Joys of Heathrow Terminal 5 Departures

2012-01-18T13:51:00.000+03:00

Less than halfway through this post, if you read that far, you'll realise that it isn't yet another sarcastic diatribe against the Heathrow experience. Quite the opposite, in fact. I downright like the place. I fly out of LHR T5 three times a year and haven't yet had a bad one. The glass-doored lifts from the Heathrow Express railway concourse to the departure lounge are your first sign of being

Cartoon Budgies, Posterity, Calvin and Holy Willie

2012-01-07T01:15:00.000+03:00

You see, there's nothing in the name 'Paraplexed' that specifically precludes featuring a 42 year-old cartoon of an irate fat budgie. I know it is 42 years old because, on the reverse side, in pencil, one can still read the deathless verse: This budgie was drawn by me In nineteen seven-tee where the 'me' in question was not me, but my brother, who was 21 at the time and just embarking on a

Feet don't travel well

2012-01-04T15:02:00.000+03:00

At least, walkers' feet don't. For the most part, this comes down to footwear. In desert climes, sandals are the obvious choice for daytime walking. (They're fine for night walks too, except that they're banned from most bars, limiting your choice of destinations). You may well think that acclimatising your feet to five or ten mile desert hikes would prepare them for anything. You'd be wrong

The light is flickering...

2012-01-03T01:29:00.000+03:00

and I'm not happy about it. I could switch it off, but then I couldn't see the keyboard. I could switch it off and wait till morning, but that would be tempting providence. It would be presumptuous of me to assume the sun will rise; that much at least I learned from David Hume. It will, of course, but let's not push our luck. The light is flickering because the dimmer switch is on its way out. It

Welcome to PARAPLEXED, formerly 'The Paranormal Hotel' and originally 'Helga's Chickens'

2011-12-30T15:16:00.000+03:00

Which is, of course, a ridiculous title for a blog. Some history, none of it important (but it is the week between Christmas and New Year): Helga's Chickens was my first Dubai blog. Well, more of a Bur Dubai blog and one that never ventured far beyond Mankhool Road. When all's said and done, chickens don't stray far from the nest, or the yard, more like (unless offered a lift in a quality motor).

Origami and the Shape of Things to come

2011-12-11T14:44:00.001+03:00

A couple of nights ago, we ended up making paper artefacts from pages torn from a small notepad graciously provided, free of charge, by the Ramada Library bar staff. The word origami was being loosely tossed around, but it's doubtful if any of our offerings really merited the description. We had two sampans, one of which more resembled a soap dish, a suit of clothes (or was it a headless dwarf?),

Doha Poster Campaign - Stop Junk Food

2011-11-25T16:23:00.001+03:00

The poster campaign to promote healthy eating is a good idea. Some of the children's paintings are quite imaginative (assuming they were painted by children). The only problem is that where they are sited, only walkers are going to see them. Walkers are probably already fairly health conscious. It's the Land Cruiser class we should really be targeting.

Le Club at Doha Mercure né Sofitel

2011-11-23T15:39:00.001+03:00

A couple of years ago, I used to feature this place regularly on the Paranormal blog. But that was when Boggs and the Girls were performing nightly. He was a fine guitarist by any standards and all of his girls could really sing, (especially Ringlets). Bands here are contracted for eleven months, from one Ramadan to the next. The band that took over from Boggs, after Ramadan 2010, could only be

This was Musheireb

2011-11-09T16:33:00.000+03:00

The last block is now demolished and the whole of Musheireb has gone. All the way from Boat Roundabout to Qtel Intersection runs a fence with nothing standing behind it. Nothing, that is, except the new construction work that will become Dohaland, in time. The video is taken from my usual vantage point, the roof of Sofitel Mercure.

Intended (Luc Bat)

2011-11-03T11:46:00.000+03:00

And was there ever space between the nesting place of sense and fortune's recompense? The broken plan's dispensary of promises we see at last turn out to be a sop to hope. We do not stop to gaze, but seize inopportune moments to importune imagined gods to prune the vine of providence in line with inward-looking mindlessness. -o- Once, in a season less seeing, let's call it yesterday, I dreamed I

The Robber Barons are Alive and Well

2011-10-31T09:16:00.000+03:00

Last week I had occasion to transfer a sum of money to Malaysia from my bank in Dubai. Because of a small inaccuracy in the beneficiary's details, that transaction was cancelled and my account was re-credited, minus AED 1,500. That's more than 250 quid in real money! I've complained of course but so far had no response. I'd expect to be charged something for a failed transaction, maybe as much as

Don't ask me where I am

2011-10-30T10:06:00.000+03:00

I remember when people used to start a phone call with- hello, how are you? But that was in the days of static telephones. No-one ever thought of asking- where are you? They already knew; you were at home, answering the phone. And if you weren't, they just had to wait until you were. I liked that. I liked that when I was out, I was out of reach. To today's generation, this is incomprehensible. We

Possible Peremptory Paranormal Privation?

2011-09-22T18:50:00.000+03:00

A friend tells me by email that the Paranormal Jockey's Pub is temporarily(?) closed. He too is out of the country and has no more information available. As this is an Important Matter, I thought I'd conduct my own investigation, by texting a couple of numbers that happened to be lodged in my mobile. My first respondent, from China, seemed a little vague: hello darling i do not bar when time open

The Pantheon has stood for Two Thousand Years

2011-09-02T16:49:00.000+03:00

A few of us were talking the other night about Qatar's long term game plan and the conclusion we came to was that it's certainly not obvious what it is. The city reconstruction goes on apace and for the next few years we'll all be putting up with the dust and noise that goes with it. But thinking ahead to when it is finished, who is it all for? Who's going to live here? The 180 thousand locals

Stating the obvious...

2011-08-29T21:11:00.000+03:00

Nothing profound here, just another in my occasional series of slightly odd signs. This one's OK, but hardly in the same league as 'Ice cube available', 'Decent Uniform Works', or the Never Titi Abayat. I know, simple things...

Eid Mubarak

2011-08-29T09:14:00.000+03:00

According to my moon phase gizmo we've made it to the end of Ramadan comparatively unscathed. Will the festive Land Cruiser traffic jam be held tonight or tomorrow? We'll see. Either way I'm sure it will live up to expectations. My local corner shop grocer will notice a drop in sales of apple juice and baking yeast. My place of work is closed all this week so I'll be working at home which is

Come buy, come buy (it used to be free)

2011-08-24T11:22:00.000+03:00

As part of Doha Museum area beautification project, the authorities erected several drinking fountains, in the shape of miniature fortresses, and several drinks vending machines, similarly disguised. In their wisdom, they have since removed the drinking fountains (that's what the twisted pipework on the plinth on the left used to be), leaving only the vending machines. Compared with the

Would you like some Music with your Girl?

2011-08-16T12:10:00.002+03:00

The mid-Ramadan escape to Dubai went well, though I'd have to say that Doha's climate, this year at least, is far kinder. What's with this humidity game? Even the short walk from CityMax to the Paranormal was something of an ordeal. Once inside Jockey's though, all was good. Prices (of the beer!) have gone up a bit but, at 23 dirhams, are still two thirds of Doha's cheapest. Not a lot else was

The Fatted Porker - a different slant on the Prodigal Son

2011-08-11T13:23:00.000+03:00

The Fatted PorkerI liked the lad. He always had a smile,a whistle on his lips, and used to waitand watch us eat. Oh, you can call it swillbut I'm not proud. For if it comes to thatI've cracked the windfall, fresher from the mossthan all your snow-cooled fare. I've savoured shootsthat daylight never blessed. But let it pass -I liked him. He was generous with the oats.Not like his brother there, a

On pots and kettles

2011-08-08T21:09:00.000+03:00

So Bahrain has withdrawn its ambassador from Syria in protest against heavy handed tactics by the regime in dealing with protesters. What's Arabic for 'irony', please?

Iftar or lump it

2011-08-06T15:03:00.000+03:00

Last night, I had some business to attend to near le Mercure, né & aka Sofitel. The kind of business that required queuing, or more accurately crowding and jostling, for nearly an hour, to ask a question at a desk, to which the answer was 'no'. Usual stuff. While crowding, I was consoling myself with the thought of the meal I was going to have later, in Sofitel's 'La Villa' Mediterranean

Poster change - just the start?

2011-07-28T16:18:00.001+03:00

As predicted, two posts ago, the Drink water, Summer is coming posters have been taken down in time for Ramadan. They have been replaced with posters raising awareness of the famine in Somalia. Ban Ki-moon apparently personally called Qatar's Prime Minister to ask for a substantial aid package for the affected region. I have every confidence that the result of his call will be something far more

What do Wendi Deng Murdoch and John Prescott have in common?

2011-07-20T14:52:00.000+03:00

a) a fine sense of decorum and occasion b) a calm, unflappable demeanour c) a healthy spontaneity coupled with quick reactions d) good hair and a nice slim figure e) a sinister old twit for a husband Wendi - your performance on the day was head and shoulders above that of your craven husband and his wee boy. Good on you, lass! (John Prescott, Tony Blair's deputy PM, famously swung round and

Drink Water - Summer is coming!

2011-07-18T08:19:00.000+03:00

I think it was in May when QMedia put up these public service posters advising us to keep the body hydrated through the hot summer ahead. I like the message. It is not advertising; in fact the label has been removed from the bottle, making it completely generic. Also, the model is wearing her hair out and looks like a modern, sporty young woman. All in all, a positive contribution to public

The Gorilla, by Jake Thackray, resuscitated by Paraglider

2011-07-13T22:33:00.000+03:00

We can't all be too young to remember the late Jake Thackray. Mr G, Paraglider's occasional partner in song, was good enough last night to make available his home studio, expertise and tolerance, for the hour or so that it took yours truly to knock out a few Jake revivals, before repairing to Sofitel, in which august establishment, in accordance with its prevailing regulations, the guitar

Urban Development, Doha Style

2011-07-13T11:48:00.000+03:00

Sometimes I wonder who's reading this blog. Recently, I wrote that the black plastic sheeting had been ripped from the Muntazah Park railings, exposing the deplorable state of neglect within. Now, I'm pleased to report that the matter has been addressed. Not the park itself of course. Once a desert, always a desert. But the authorities have upgraded the black plastic sheeting with tasteful yellow

On stair wells, fires and mattresses

2011-07-10T10:35:00.001+03:00

Now that it is seriously hot here and starting to get humid too, my regular regime of walking either round Muntazah Park or the length of the Corniche is becoming more of a chore than a pleasure. So I've substituted a daily stair climb instead. My apartment is 7th floor and exactly 135 steps up from the entry lobby. It's a good staircase too, wrapping round a square stair well, with no

G & T and the Holy Coalition

2011-07-09T09:23:00.000+03:00

Georgie said to Tony What shall we do? Tony said to Georgie I'll follow you. Georgie said to Tony Let's coalesce. Tony said to Georgie Yes! Yes! Yes! Georgie said to Tony Now we're on a Mission We'll make God join our Holy Coalition. Georgie, God and Tony, Happy as can be. Tony, God and Georgie, Blessed Trinity. << - shock & awe - >> Georgie said to Tony That didn't take long. Tony said to

Slowing down for Ramadan

2011-07-07T11:21:00.000+03:00

Ramadan is already a palpable presence in the Doha ambiance. Three weeks away it may be, but instead of everyone pushing to achieve minor milestones before it arrives, the opposite seems to be the case. One can almost feel the brakes being applied, slowing everything down in order to effect a seamless transition from a sleepy July to an even sleepier August. Ramadan always brings changes in its

All Change at Doha Ramada Orion Bar

2011-07-02T15:19:00.000+03:00

Regulars at Doha Ramada's Orion bar will have noticed a changed climate over the past few weeks. First was the diminutive but smiley manageress Julietta's transfer to the Library bar (where she was an instant hit). Next was the changing of the band. The Sri Lankan trio's contract came to an end and they returned home, to be replaced by a Filipino outfit. Piano and two singers. The quality of

The Barber's Wife

2011-07-01T15:27:00.000+03:00

Sometimes she leans on the windowsill, looking down into the alleyway. Probably she'd like a better view, ideally from a better house in another country. But that's why she's here, after all. And even if it never happens, at least she is with her husband, making both of them luckier than most of the workers who keep Qatar ticking over.

I see trees of green...

2011-06-30T12:13:00.003+03:00

If my recent posts have all had an aerial slant, it's only because after a few years at first floor level, my relocation to a seventh floor apartment has afforded me the chance to look down (only literally of course) on the old city. I see trees of green... And I think to myself... OK, roll over Satchmo. But about these trees: Trees in Doha fall into three categories: naturally established

This is the House where Chuck stayed...

2011-06-25T15:05:00.000+03:00

This is the plaque They stuck on the house where Chuck stayed. This is the daughter, pale and cold Who's named on the plaque They stuck on the house where Chuck stayed This is the doctor, stern and old Who treated the daughter, pale and cold Who's named on the plaque They stuck on the house where Chuck stayed This is the water, pure as gold as used by the doctor stern and old Who treated the

Friday Prayers in Muntazah

2011-06-17T15:38:00.000+03:00

Taken from my window this morning, Friday prayer time at the local Muntazah mosque attracts numbers far in excess of the capacity of the old building. My best estimate would be around five hundred worshipers, braving the sun on their backs and the hot tarmac under their prayer mats. I think I'm right in saying that praying in the street is discouraged in Dubai, except in certain designated areas,

Cock-a-Doodle-Do(ha)

2011-06-16T15:02:00.002+03:00

At first I thought I was dreaming. Not unreasonably, as it was still short of 5 a.m. and I was lying in bed at the time. But there was no denying it. I was awake. I had in fact just been wakened, by that most traditional of alarm clocks, a crowing rooster who was still giving it big licks somewhere outside my window. In the countryside this would be unremarkable but in the middle of Doha Muntazah

Bluetoothing in the Paranormal - What's the point?

2011-06-11T15:30:00.000+03:00

Using Bluetooth, I'd been uploading a few pictures from mobile to laptop and had neglected to switch the service off, when done. Now, no Dubai trip is complete without a visit to the Paranormal, so Friday lunchtime finds me bar-stooled against the central pillar with a switched-on Bluetooth mobile in my pocket. Halfway through my first beer and third 'Whey you flom?' conversation, the mobile

The Transformation is Complete

2011-06-03T13:34:00.001+03:00

It's official. The transformation is complete. Muntazah Park, Doha's erstwhile popular ladies' and children's park, is now a desert. The park, which has been 'closed for maintenance' for about five years is no longer behind wraps. The black plastic sheeting has been removed from the perimeter fence, most likely by the wind, to reveal the full extent of the maintenance programme, which apparently

Muntazah beckons - one more week

2011-05-20T15:31:00.000+03:00

Close readers of the Paranormal blog might recall that Paraglider moved, a little over a year ago, from Muntazah Park to Bin Mahmoud. The reasons for the move had little to do with the respective areas; Muntazah, in fact, has a lot more to offer in the way of small shops and supermarkets and even a little triangle of green open space. The move was occasioned then, not by environs but by plumbing,

Kate & William's Honeymoon Venue, revealed!

2011-04-30T09:01:00.000+03:00

There are two well established ways to avoid the glare of publicity. One is to go exclusive, and expensive, in some barely inhabited, luxuriously appointed, and thoroughly protected super-rich hideaway, possibly in the Caribbean. But this runs counter to the quiet and informal nature of this family wedding (it was not, after all, a State Occasion). The other approach is to go down market and

So, the Crown Prince of Bahrain..

2011-04-24T23:26:00.000+03:00

..has declined to attend the nuptials. Bigger losses. Have a good day.

Paraglider rests his Case (in Central London)

2011-04-13T15:56:00.000+03:00

Renaissance In my usual fashion, I've left it to the last minute. The London train's leaving in half an hour and I haven't packed a bag. No problem. Clean shirt, socks, underwear, toothbrush. Chuck them in the bag and - whoops - what bag? The case I brought back from Qatar is far too big for an overnight. The one I need is three thousand miles away. Plastic bags look wrong in meetings.

On Rainbows and Light Railways

2011-04-07T16:42:00.000+03:00

Great Malvern Priory, with rainbow, from my window Paraglider is enjoying a short break back in UK, where it is still possible to see the occasional rainbow, as above. Other delights include unaffordable petrol (which troubles me not a bit, as a confirmed walker) and affordable real ale with names like Doom Bar, Kinver Light Railway, Black Pear and Bishop's Finger. Offsetting these are the

Standing in the Heart of Doha

2011-03-22T10:58:00.001+03:00

just another friday night, for the men who are building a new doha It has all the appearance of a muster point. Why else would several hundred people gather in a condemned cul-de-sac in the heart of Doha, except to stage a march or demonstration? But no, this is just another Friday night. The same crowd gathers every weekend, and for no better reason than Eccles' excuse - everybody's got to be

"Tooking for a Lowel" - remembering Patrick Campbell

2011-03-21T12:55:00.000+03:00

Patrick Campbell, BBC TV, 1970 Lying awake to the cacophonous accompaniment of nightlong rubble clearance from the demolition site below my balcony, my sleep deprived mind came briefly, if randomly, to rest on a reminiscence of an old-style Irish columnist, raconteur and 'personality' (we had these in the days before celebrities) called Patrick Campbell. It occurred to me that if he were alive

A peaceful afternoon, shattered

2011-03-19T16:45:00.000+03:00

It had to come sooner or later and today was the day. The Heart of Doha demolition phase is spreading its destruction wider and wider. A couple of days ago, the labourers moved out of their squat, the one right below my balcony, and today the JCB moved in. Here's what it looked (and sounded) like: In fact it was quite impressive to watch at such close quarters, and in its favour, the demolition

About this no fly zone...

2011-03-16T18:25:00.000+03:00

It's OK in theory but what will the spiders do for food?

Jazz in Doha Oryx Rotana

2011-03-11T16:20:00.000+03:00

Elena Forbes A good night was had by eight of us yesterday at the Doha Rotana Jazz Club. Many Doha music fans still don't know of the existence of this club, or even of the Oryx Rotana itself, probably because the hotel, located close to airport immigration, is a relatively low rise building not easily seen on the skyline. The band currently resident is called Turning Point, with a back line of

Laughter Factory - Refugee Night in the Library Bar

2011-03-07T13:34:00.000+03:00

It happens every month. The Laughter Factory stand-up comedy show comes to the Shehrazad Sports Bar, displacing a large clutch of regulars, who then turn up as refugees in the normally peaceful Library. Poor lost souls, they stand out like sprained toes in the more civilised environment, shouting at each other from habit (Shehrazad is noisy), chain smoking (Shehrazad is foggy) and in some cases

A Change of Scene - Istanbul

2011-02-27T13:10:00.000+03:00

Just back from a working visit to Istanbul. Apart from the weather (cold, wet, windy) it was a great trip. There's something nice about normality: equal numbers of men and women on the streets, mixing freely with each other. Cafes and bars where you can sit outside and enjoy whatever you fancy to eat and drink. A complete absence of 'family rooms' and screens. It's just so easy. Then there's the

And now Bahrain - more innocents killed

2011-02-17T13:49:00.000+03:00

"People were attacked while they were sleeping. There was no warning"..."And when they ran, the police attacked them from the direction they fled to"..."Whoever took the decision to attack the protest was aiming to kill". The phrase 'disproportionate response', for so long associated with a different regime, has come home to roost even in Bahrain. Let those of us who can do nothing but care, at

Doha Ferrari Centre - Rock Bottom Prices

2011-02-15T16:22:00.000+03:00

Doha Ferrari Centre is going from strength to strength. They have replaced their faded and worn-out banner signboard with a new one, exactly the same, but brash, bright and shiny. I'm not sure a humble car-wash would be allowed to style itself Ferrari Centre in Paris or London; the name would normally be jealously guarded for bona fide Ferrari dealers. But here in Doha such niceties count for

For Narcissa, who knows who she is

2011-02-14T16:30:00.000+03:00

for narcissa, who knows who she is even as you say I must go home you wonder why there is a turned down bed and a chocolate to say goodnight for one less star a made up bed and no chocolate only a minibar with the sound of bees in a stump no trouser press thank god each padded cell empty of narcissa who does not leave the bar casually but with roses aforethought and the mandatory soft

So what has changed in the Paranormal?

2011-02-12T00:53:00.000+03:00

Not a lot. The pink bendy mirror thing has gone, replaced by a structure far more rectilinear and featuring (approx) 25,920 small silvery studs. It's probably an improvement. The impossible girl spent New Year in China and has returned, fattened out, to something possible. Danny is still louring in his corner. One beer and one Bailey's together costs less than just one beer in Doha (mine was the

The Flying Fickle Finger of Fashion

2011-02-07T16:41:00.001+03:00

Blogger's new 'popular posts' gadget (right) is interesting. For one thing, it shows that readers and writers may have different ideas on what a blog is really about. The Paranormal has one spoof post about a gay bar in Doha and an even less serious one on Doha's lesbian scene. That's two posts out of more than two hundred. But these are the two that top the table for visitors. My challenge now

Musheireb - now you see it, now you don't

2011-02-05T14:39:00.000+03:00

Only a week separates these two pictures, taken from the roof of Doha Mercure (the Sofitel to its friends). That's how fast the old city is disappearing to make way for the new. The whole area from National to Boat Roundabout is now reduced to Rubble City. It's too late now, but somebody should have fitted a time lapse camera to Sofitel roof to record the disappearance of a city. A casual record

Reticulated Moleskin Wipes

2011-02-03T14:49:00.000+03:00

No, I haven't lost the plot completely. I just wanted to demonstrate to someone how easy it is to hit the top slot in the search engines if you choose a sufficiently obscure search string. As a wipe, natural moleskin is not very effective. Moles, after all, are designed - sorry, evolved - to slip through their tunnels, not to stick to the walls. But this is changed by the reticulation process. A

Burns' Night in Jimmy's Bar

2011-01-26T09:44:00.000+03:00

It takes exactly the right amount of Glenkinchie to trigger a spontaneous but flawed rendering of Holy Willie's Prayer in a corner of a pseudo New Yorkian bar in an international hotel in Doha, to a small select audience of two, one of whom works for 30 seconds occasionally, by releasing a button, while the other writes about it. In other words, surrealism is alive and well in Qatar. Probably,

By Way of Wintery Summary

2011-01-18T08:47:00.001+03:00

Nothing much has happened in my first few days back in Doha. The sewage tanker has not been bought after all, but the hopeful vendor has adopted a new policy of moving it to a different location each morning (never more than 400 yards from the old location) and returning it at night. As it is now as dusty as the rest of its environs and bespattered with the season's first muddy rain, the chances

Forty-Seven-Thousand Girls wanted for Light Duties

2011-01-11T13:57:00.001+03:00

I came across an interesting statistic recently, all the more interesting because the source, who will remain nameless, is usually fairly reliable in such matters. We were talking about FIFA 2022 and some of the changes that Qatar will have to make if they are to meet the expectations, not merely of the organisers, management and players, but also of the half-million-or-so fans who are expected

The Latin on British Coins

2011-01-05T15:36:00.000+03:00

Paraglider returns to Doha next week. Meanwhile, I wonder how many tourists to Britain ever notice the cryptic messages that surround the Queen's head on our coinage? Apart from the coherent Elizabeth II and the date, our pounds bear the legend DG REG FD. Not very informative. The two pound coins, having more space available, expand this to DEI GRA REG FID DEF, which is better, but still a bit

Happy New Year to All - EXCEPT SPAMMERS

2010-12-31T15:18:00.000+03:00

It's not important in the grand scheme of things. But within the frame of reference of the microcosm that is the Paranormal Hotel Blog, there is room for humour, friendliness, triviality, occasional seriousness, routine urbanity and much else that scarce merits mention. In particular, there is always a welcome for guests' comments, almost all of which recognise and respect the prevailing local

Season's Greetings to all

2010-12-22T09:02:00.001+03:00

It had to be done! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Paranormal readers. See you next year, if not before!

Buskers in Brick Lane - Lewis Floyd Henry

2010-12-19T09:28:00.002+03:00

Last week, on a flying visit to London, I was passing time pleasantly in Brick Lane, enjoying the sights sounds and smells of the Sunday morning street market, when I came across these buskers. The first group were semi-official, in that they were playing a prearranged slot in a provided venue. A ukelele band, just out for a good time, they certainly cheered the small crowd of passers-by. The

Goodbye Musheireb, it's been a ball...

2010-12-05T18:17:00.001+03:00

Just two of the dozens of closed shop fronts in Musheireb (and one of them a King!) The demolition continues apace, sacrificing the present to a promised future. Compulsory purchase compensates the owners of the buildings who are, of course, local people and for the most part absentee landlords. Certainly they don't live above their shop units. But for the tenant shopkeepers it's a different

Qatar 2022 - Expect Amazing, or, Money's Coming Home

2010-12-03T10:50:00.000+03:00

What you do, it seems, on learning that Qatar has been awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is start up your Land Cruisers, open the windows and sun roof, turn the radios on at full volume, and drive up and down the Corniche in convoy, beating a tattoo on the horn. But then, you also do this to mark the start of each Eid and on National Day, so you've had plenty of practice. And you keep it going

Who knew that Qatar has a Pipe Band?

2010-11-27T08:59:00.001+03:00

I certainly didn't. But there they were, large as life, and marching purposefully along the Corniche, to the delight and bemusement of the crowds gathered to watch the power boat racing. They were good too, striking up in perfect synchronism and in tune (not easy on the Highland bagpipe) and backed by a very tight drum team. The power boats were quite impressive too, in their way, though I'm

KGB - still watching you

2010-11-15T12:51:00.001+03:00

So I'm sitting outside the cafe enjoying the Tbilisi sunshine (no, that's not me; I'm the one taking the photos!) and letting the World go by. I've finished my work here and have a few hours left to enjoy the ancient city before heading to the airport and back to Qatar. And it really is an ancient city, with the pride of culture that goes with it; that much I've learned in a few short days. This

Hope springs eternal in the human breast...

2010-11-13T13:45:00.000+03:00

yet there are limits. And the guy who parked this huge yellow sewage water tanker (5,700 gallons, good area, best vintage) with 'for sale' signs stuck to it was surely pushing his luck. OK, on closer inspection the tanker turns out to be brand new, fresh from the factory. And no doubt sewage water tankers are bought and sold like everything else. But surely not by casual roadside advertisement,

You've got to love the Magic Mushroom

2010-10-15T17:54:00.000+03:00

Another of the wonders of the Gulf has to be Abu Dhabi's old Airport Terminal Building, the magic mushroom to its friends. Someone was telling me its days are numbered. I don't know how true that is. But before it goes the way of the dodo, let's be grateful for the eccentricity that produced one of the weirdest inner spaces in the region. This is, by the way, the 200th post in the Paranormal

Guns and Roses in Qatar

2010-10-02T12:32:00.000+03:00

First the guns. Even from a distance, something looked wrong. The unnaturally tapered barrel, the wholly impractical wheel pattern: surely these couldn't be real? guns, of sorts And real they are not, fashioned entirely out of fibreglass and as useful as a chocolate fireplace. But I suppose not out of place in a town that builds Venice's Grand Canal inside a shopping mall. roses, posing And

The Curse of Mundane Uniformity posing as Sophistication

2010-09-22T15:40:00.000+03:00

You know the history. Some sixth sense had told me that the unique mural and decor of Doha Ramada Library Bar might be under threat in the name of Ramadan refurbishment. To preserve its memory for posterity, I photographed and blogged it. A couple of nights ago, I went to check for myself. My worst fears have been realised. The Library has not yet re-opened for service but the door was unlocked

The Burj Paranormal - Spot the Difference?

2010-09-02T15:34:00.000+03:00

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? - Matthew 7:9 According to my Feedjit gadget, yesterday, a visitor from Brunei arrived from google.com.bn on "The Paranormal Hotel" by searching for "burj khalifa". Well done Google! The guy's looking for the World's tallest building and you send him to Dubai's lowest dive. Just as well it's all virtual, or he'd

Qatar News Agency bites the dust.

2010-09-01T11:58:00.000+03:00

all things... must have an end... Recognise this building? Qatar News Agency and the several fairly new apartment blocks behind it are just the latest victims of the city-wide orgy of destruction from which the new Doha will rise, Phoenix like, to delight the privileged few who will be able to enjoy it. It's arguable that city reconstruction on this scale has not been seen since Napoleon's

A modest family house

2010-08-31T13:38:00.000+03:00

a modest dwelling I pass this villa most mornings. It is abandoned now, the boundary wall is breached and, like so many of its kind, it is waiting for the bulldozers to move in. It sits on the C-Ring Road, at White Palace Junction. For all I know, it might even be the White Palace. For this much is certain. There was a time, not so long ago, when even a Qatari citizen would have been proud and

Forget those faded jeans, because...

2010-08-15T18:36:00.001+03:00

Decent Uniform Works. And don't forget it. This latest in my occasional collection of soon to disappear Doha shop fronts has a certain appeal in its stark confidence. Bold upper case, black on white, the very epitome of formality. And above, one pressed grey trouser, one starched pastel blue shirt hung with a hint of movement - is this a small concession to modernity? And a window clean enough

Boggs & the Girls - thank you and good luck!

2010-08-11T12:27:00.000+03:00

Boggs & Girls, last night at Le Club, Sofitel It was a shame really. Last night was the last night in Stufital for Boggs and the Band. Ramadan is traditionally when the clubs change their band and do whatever other refurbishments are planned for the month of closure. So with two sets played and one to go, the guys were just getting ready for their final set when security switched on the lights

A planned act of iconoclasm approaches

2010-08-09T12:38:00.000+03:00

The bad news is that Doha Ramada Library Bar is definitely planning to refurbish during Ramadan. Some of the changes will be for the good. They say they are going to knock the two small toilets together to make one of a decent size, while building a completely new second toilet. Unfortunately, this requires additional space, which in turn means knocking through the end wall. It's hard to see how

Paraglider in the Paranormal - a flying visit

2010-08-05T16:23:00.000+03:00

a very green tree, by contrast It seems every time I'm back in Dubai that the Paranormal exterior has been recently repainted, and each time in a rosier hue. The salmon pink is gradually giving way to a red mullet. Fair enough. paranormal interior, reflected, paraglider far right, reflecting If the place looks surprisingly empty, it was only 12:30, half an hour after opening. I wasn't

Doha Ramada Library Bar - in the Beginning was the Word...

2010-08-03T14:33:00.000+03:00

Ramadan is only a week away and all the bars will close. When they re-open in September, it would be a great shame to visit the Ramada Library Bar only to find it redecorated, with the famous mural over-painted in a nice tasteful magnolia. Heaven forbid that this should happen, but just in case, I've preserved it here, for posterity. In best Arabic style, the mural progresses from right to left

The Restaurant on Al Shatee Corner

2010-08-01T10:57:00.000+03:00

Yes, of course I know it's pronounced fool, not fowl, and normally I'd pass such places with nothing more than a private chuckle, but this particular juxtaposition of a Foul Restaurant cheek by jowl with Al Shatee Food Supply is surely unfortunate, by any standards. This is right up there with Kharbash Institute of Driving (Karama) and the Never Titi abayat (Muntazah).

Doha: the Kings, the Roundabout, the Lambs & the Chickens

2010-07-28T15:24:00.000+03:00

The King of Fashion was pretty central in Doha, about a hundred yards from Sofitel on the road towards the Royal Palace. It's not there any more of course, having been cleared to make way for Dohaland Phase One, the city centre reconstruction project. King of Shoes has gone as well. We do still have a King of Toys (such names!) in a part of Musheirib that has so far escaped demolition. This

Chess for Ramadan, and beyond

2010-07-27T10:45:00.000+03:00

Ramadan approaches. The moon is full tonight, so unless it changes its habits, it will herald in a new Holy Month of Ramadan in 15 days time. And unless Qatar changes its normal practice, all the bars will close for the month, leaving me with more than a little free time of an evening. That's why I've joined GameKnot, an on-line Chess website. At GameKnot you play against real people, in real

A deep hole in the ground

2010-07-24T12:48:00.002+03:00

Not sure what is going to be built here in Bin Mahmoud, but from the depth of the excavation, it's probably going to be one tall building. Not tall as in Burj, but bigger than anything in the neighbourhood. I'm always amazed that they dig these deep holes in the middle of the city and protect the public with the flimsiest of corrugated iron fences, the type the wind blows down regularly, a mere

Mad Dogs, Scotsmen and the Tilley Hat

2010-07-18T14:55:00.002+03:00

I am one of those who objects to paying through the nose for what should be everyone's birthright - a reasonable standard of fitness. That's one reason why you'll never find me in any of Qatar's grossly overpriced gyms. The other reason is my mental health. I value it too highly to put it through the tedium of cycling machines and treadmills. I have a perfectly good cycling machine at home. It's

Doha's Lesbian Scene

2010-07-15T15:38:00.000+03:00

Ever since I posted Doha's First Gay Club - Created by Mistake, the blog has been getting several hits every day from all over the World, with searches like gay doha, doha gay scene, gay bar doha, etc. These can only be from gay workers considering taking up a contract in Qatar and doing a little advance research. After all, Doha's not Rio. No-one's going to research Doha's gay scene purely from

Just for the (football) record...

2010-07-12T00:48:00.001+03:00

Spain won - Holland didnae! This is a note to me, to remind me of sitting here, in Bin Mahmoud, Doha, watching a World Cup final where the better team triumphed over a cynical, aggressive opposition who disgraced the name of sportsmanship. The Dutch came out to disrupt quality football (which they could never match) and almost succeeded. Knowing that the referee would not wish to send off a

Tea Party Psychology

2010-07-07T16:24:00.000+03:00

The only real Americans are those who think like me! I'll call you commie garbage if you dare to disagree. It's not that I'm intolerant, but since I'm always right you might as well admit to being a nasty liberal shite! So stuff your Evolution! If Intelligent Design was good enough for Adam then I guess it suits me fine, for God is a Republican and Jesus Christ was white and anyone who argues is

An unprecedented exercise in nasal parallelism

2010-06-29T09:28:00.000+03:00

Maybe it's just me, but this odd sketch of the Russian spies took me right back to Treasure Island- "But what sort of a way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't in natur'." Right you are, Cap'n Silver, and that's no sort of a way for noses to point, neither.

Ladies, please feed the driver...

2010-06-22T15:32:00.000+03:00

Shaikh Abdul Mohsin Bin Nasser Al Obaikan, member of Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and adviser to the king, (don't you just love that 'adviser to the king' bit?) has solved one of Saudi's most pressing problems - how to allow women to travel by car. Some countries solved this one some time ago. It's called driving. But in countries where women are not allowed to drive or share a vehicle with

Plukes on the Face of the Beautiful Game?

2010-06-17T13:21:00.001+03:00

So far, in this World Cup, in how many games has the lead changed sides? Hint- a small round number less than one. All games have either been drawn or won by the first team to score. This is the tedious norm in modern football. The game is fundamentally flawed. And the main reason is its refusal to evolve. Rugby Union continually amends its code to make the game better for player and spectator

Sounding Dire but Feeling Lucky

2010-06-09T16:28:00.000+03:00

If you are familiar with Google's Picasa image management software, you'll have met the rather amazing "I'm Feeling Lucky" one-touch button that attempts to optimise exposure, brightness, contrast, black and white balance, colour balance and a few more image parameters all in a single pass. The results are often quite impressive, as witness this before and after aerial shot of Muntazah Park.

Balls and the Burning Log

2010-06-07T10:08:00.000+03:00

I noticed (on Saturday afternoon) that the Paranormal has at least made a token gesture to the forthcoming World Cup, by stretching some nets across the ceiling and placing a few odd-looking footballs on top of them. I couldn't hep thinking that if they replaced the footballs with green glass floats they'd achieve standard seaside pub decor, type one. (For type 2, add one upside down rowing boat)

Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!'

2010-06-02T13:42:00.001+03:00

The Paranormal Hotel is not a political blog and it is rare for me to comment here on major events. But I think, occasionally, to say nothing is almost akin to complicity, or at least acquiescence, in the face of an outrage. Still, one should take care not to make assumptions and should distinguish fact from opinion. So here are some facts: The amount of aid routinely allowed through to the Gaza

Black Holes Space Game, by Paraglider. Free download.

2010-05-26T13:59:00.003+03:00

Black Holes is a strategy game based on the behaviour of real black holes in Space. It's easy to learn but hard to play well. The idea is to create black holes in Space and to capture the stars that fall inside the event horizon. (See, it's even educational for the kids!) I originally invented it as a board game, but then decided to program a demo version for the PC. The Demo plays quite well and

Once more, with feeling

2010-05-18T14:15:00.001+03:00

When you change apartments, unless moving well up-market, the odds are that your new place will be better in those aspects that bugged you about the old place, but worse in aspects you never considered, until they force themselves on your attention. My Muntazah apartment faced South-West, so it used to get very hot in the afternoon. It fronted a main road, with its attendant traffic noise, night

And the Winner is - "When I, Roger"

2010-05-16T11:24:00.000+03:00

Most spam, as most bloggers or webmasters will confirm, is just that - spam. Junk mail with no redeeming features. Most, but not all. Occasionally a gem turns up. This wonderfully convoluted (but perfectly spelt) invocation to puchase pharmaceuticals is well worth a second reading: The most skilfully situation dedicated to medical goods, here you are your notice most of the drugs that are now on