This is a picture of Mike Tyson in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, after he performed Umrah. I am sure more pictures will surface or will be shared by him or his publicist.
I hope he does not go all Maureen Dowd on us, cause then I’m gonna have to… cause you know me, I mean… yeah 
It has been all over the news, and I have written about Saudi archaeology being a new investment, I personally know that it had one or two false starts 20+ years ago, but it is finally taking off, and where better than Paris and at the Louvre to make a grand entrance into the world of everything ancient.
I do however think that they should’ve invited bloggers to the event, especially ones who are into photography, and of course the ones with names that start with the letter Q, and they should let them checkout the “Arabian routes. Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” a 624 pages, 600 illustrations, 45 euro limited edition in English and Arabic catalogue which is available only at the Louvre bookshop.
You can check the press release (pdf) with some nice pictures and information and you can also check Chiara’s post on the event with many pictures of the items on display.
As I saw my friends complain yesterday about the 50°C weather they had in Jeddah, which I remember so well, the heat feels like a blow dryer, the air so humid you can taste the red sea with every breath, and then I remembered red sea diving, and I looked up some pictures, and then decided to share them here. All images are linked to their owners, you can click on them and check the rest of their pictures.
Yes, I miss diving… but I do not miss the heat… yet cold water diving is not enticing at all, so you can only enjoy this… with that 
I recently had the privilege of attending the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission’s graduation ceremony which was held in Sydney for Saudi students graduating this year from universities in Australia and New Zealand.
I was also a proud attendee, since my wife Mai <3 was one of the graduates, congratulations honey
The graduation ceremony was held at the Sydney convention centre, and was attended by the Saudi Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Angari. The Saudi ambassador to Australia Hasan Nazer also attended the graduation ceremony along with Dr. Ali Albishri the head of the Culural Attache’.
It was a bit unorganized, but everyone was happy, so this compensated that, I had my camera with me and took a few shots and made this video, I had a totally different video in mind but it never happened (as usual), which explains why I only had one lens with me at the time, but all in all, and now that i think about it, I do not think I could’ve made it any better than this… Unless of course they invite me next year and I’m more prepared and know what to expect 
(p.s. I will work for room, board, and a little pocket money LOL)
So without further ado, here’s the video.
Here is an interesting interview which I saw on susristube.
I think Prince Turki AlFaisal reads my blog LOL, some of the ideas, thoughts and conclusions sound similar to mine… of course, sitting high up and doing what you want to do while not being in the eye of the change process, and being caught in the middle of it… are two different experiences.
I enjoy the posts and pictures Abdullah (NidalM) had on his blog so much, especially his escapades in the Saudi desert like this and this, and even though I have traveled extensively in Saudi, but I was always going somewhere, so stopping and exploring were never on the list.
Yesterday a nice commenter was kind enough (thank you:) ) to share a link with me to a site More
I can smell something cooking, something… how should I put it?… right now, we’ve got the media highlighting the Tiger Woods adultery, to cover up sending more American troops to Afghanistan… They’ve always done that with Michael Jackson, but now I guess they wanted another white-black man to take his place.
But the cooking I smell is closer to home. Just a few days ago the head of the hay’a in Makkah comes out saying gender segregation is not Islamic.. I think he has read my post about that
Seriously, this is something other non-Saudi Islamic clerics have been saying for ages… I’ve read the Arabic article, and it even says shaking hands and riding behind an unrelated male on a horse or a camel (I assume a motorcycle also), or with an unrelated male in a car is not forbidden… And unrelated women can cut men’s hair…
This issue, at least for me, should be filed under things that make you go hmmm! For years the establishment has done what it’s done, and I am not going to go through any well known lists and stories. The arguments are based on the same exact references that they once used to force segregation… And those were the same conclusions of other Islamic thinkers and clerics out of Saudi (of course they were ridiculed in various ways)… Hence, this is why the Islam practiced in Saudi is/was called a “strict wahabbi interpretation” of Islam. I am sure this is in one way or another a ploy to get people talking about this amongst themselves so whatever needs to be taken care of can be taken care of in a discrete way…
Nothing gets people talking more than X be it practicing, getting some, preventing other, increasing this… etc
One day, you will say, that I told you so
It could be about the BS projects in Jeddah, it could be more… This poor blogger has a keen sense of smell, but his vision… Is so-so
A good Arabic article was written by Susan AlMashadi, a Saudi writer, asking the question “What’s going to happen after this statement?” since the Hay’a has been arresting people based on what the current chief of the Hay’a is saying is all good! What about all the lives that were ruined, the reputations that have been tarnished, the defamations of character.. etc.
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