R&B Night with McMo Every Thursday at Radisson Blu

Every Thursday from 9pm t0 3am. Just got off the phone with one of the organizers. Doors open at 6pm and they start playing sometime between 8:30 and 9pm.  This will be Mc Mo’s 2nd Thursday playing in O’Malley’s Irish Bar at the Radisson. Should be a lot of fun!

Extreme Sailing Series – Muscat, Oman – March 18-21

My apologies for not posting this before.  Extreme Sailing is taking place right now at Al Mouj Golf Course at the Wave in Muscat, Oman! I was out there this morning and it’s truly a gorgeous day to be outside watching the boats and enjoying all the fun activities taking place like camel riding, football competitions and more…in addition to watching expert sailors from around the globe compete for top prize!  You might want to consider going out there tomorrow with the family.  The Extreme Sailing series started Wednesday but there are still 2 days left.  Here is the schedule for the last 2 days of the sailing series, today and tomorrow:                                                                                                 I put this up to focus on “on the water entertainment“.  Please ignore the Extreme Club column as this was originally intended for invited members of the media.  I was invited to be on one of the sailing boats during one of the actual races but I did it last year so I declined the offer to allow others the opportunity to enjoy such a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime event.  Here’s the post where I included video I took during the actual race last year!If you haven’t been to Al Mouj Golf Course, there’s no better opportunity than during the exciting extreme sailing series!  It’s on November 18th street on the right hand side of the highway a kilometre or 2 just before the main Wave entrance.  Just keep your eyes out for the excellent signage in place.My buddy, Geoff, scouting out a good spot for the Red Bull team photoshoot.  My main purpose for being out at Al Mouj this morning was helping Geoff with the equipment and lighting.  The last time I was out there was when they was only a 9-hole course.  They are now a full 18-hole course and it is gorgeous!From the media invitation, “With vessels reaching top speeds in narrow stadium courses the Extreme Sailing Series has become a benchmark in the sailing world. Oman features a great sea-faring tradition and has once again been chosen to host the sailing elite including Austrian double Olympic champions Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher who are part of the Red Bull Extreme Sailing team.  We are very pleased to welcome all Media for the Extreme Sailing Series, Oman 2014 (19-22 March). We look forward to seeing you as they battle it out in the regatta.”  Here’s a great video including yesterday’s highlights:                                  RACING SCHEDULE 2014

Act 1: ASIA (Singapore) February 20-23
Act 2: OMAN (Muscat) March 19-22 
Act 3: CHINA (Qingdao) May 1-4
Act 4: RUSSIA (Saint Petersburg) June 26-29
Act 5: UK (Cardiff) August 22-25
Act 6: TURKEY (Istanbul) September 11-14
Act 7: TBC (Mediterranean) October 2-5
Act 8: AUSTRALIA (Sydney) December 11-14

If I did it right, this should give you live coverage of the race going on right now:I love seeing these smaller sailboats out on the water. Where the “grass canopy” meets the rocks.  Interesting…Camel riding – Fun for the whole family!So what are you waiting for? Head on down to Al Mouj now while the action is on! A big thanks once again to Stacey Ross, Red Bull Communications Specialist, who always does her best to bring fine entertainment to the residents of Oman!

“Oman Social Media Gang Selfie”

  It was a lot of fun to be part of this Oman social media selfie (Officially Titled “Oscar Selfie 2“) at the Shangri-la’s 1st Full Moon Beach Buffet (which I’ll post about as soon as I can!) Recognize anyone in this pic? 🙂  Bader Al Lawati (and his “+1”! 😉 ), Rasha Al Mandani, Mohammed Al Ramadan (aka “McMo“), Maurizio Monte, Susan Proctor, Fatima Hamayon, Sahara Hamayon, Fahmi Al Ma’Awali…and others.  I’m doing my best Kevin Spacey face that I could manage, haha!

Here’s a better one that shows everyone’s face more clearly and Susan even managed to photoshop Dahlia Riyami in who left just before the pic. Nice touch, Susan!  A big thumbs up to Fahmni for this wonderful and yet ridiculous idea,haha!  🙂

The Ari Roland Jazz Quartet: Free Cultural Event Thursday, Feb 27th at Crowne Plaza

Sounds like a fun evening of jazz at the Crowne Plaza next Thursday. This was just tweeted by the US Embassy in Muscat.  We attended a similar event hosted by the US Embassy 4 years ago (with the Little Joe MacLerran Quartet) and we had a blast.  The poster reads that “restaurants and bars will be open before and after the event for your enjoyment”. What about during the event?! They had an open bar on the lawn last time we attended which was a great idea.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Community

It’s easy to come up with photos for “community” as the word “community” automatically brings thoughts of “church” or “community of believers” to my mind and it’s been a pretty busy week for the Protestant Church in Oman during this 3rd week of Advent! 🙂  Here, as with each of the 4 weeks of Advent, one family from the congregation lights the previous candle(s) of Advent and then lights the next candle until the 4th is lit on Christmas week.  This ancient tradition is one way for the church to celebrate the first Advent (“Coming”) and anticipate the 2nd Advent of Christ.                                      One important aspect of community in the church is fellowship and the breaking of bread together.  This photo was during the last Tuesday night Bible study of the year.This photo was from Friday’s event known as “Christmas Joy” , which is an outreach party to give an evening of joy to female migrant workers in Muscat, Oman (next year is the men’s turn!).  This was the 7th annual Christmas Joy in Oman!  Outreach and charity are important features of any healthy church community.

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of “community” for this photo challenge.  Finally, here’s a short video from the Children’s Nativity Play this past Friday morning in which the children and youth led us in celebration of Christmas Worship Service”: