Meet Dubai's newest mascot, Mr Burj

Courtesy Emaar Properties.

Emaar properties has introduced a new mascot for visitors to the Burj Khalifa and not surprisingly, he wears a big-old smile and giant squishy Burj on his head.

From the press release:

A replica of Burj Khalifa, Mr. Burj is effortlessly flexible and wears a heartwarming smile at all times. It is born from the wish of Omar, a fictional Arab boy, to have his toy come to life. Pronto! Mr. Burj arrives and takes him on some leisurely, adventurous, entertaining and educational experiences.

Press release of the week: Lionel Richie at Dubai International Airport, from Think Events

The first line (I almost spit out my coffee when I read it at 7am): Lionel says "Hello" Dubai as he lands at 1 am this morning into Dubai terminal 3. Also, it's so rare to get something useful like this in the UAE. Usually I would expect to see something like this a few days after his concert, which is tomorrow night at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre.

Will Smith reunites DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince at Dubai's Barasti for big NYE surprise

What a New Year's Eve for those lucky ducks who turned out to see DJ Jazzy Jeff, aka Jeff Townes, perform at Barasti's Sugar Beach party last night. The legend that is Will Smith hopped onstage and performed at least Gettin' Jiggy Wit It - Townes posted a joyous snippet. Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, were also celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary.

Go here for more + the video.

Happy 2014! Dubai blows the rest of the world all away with amazing fireworks all over the place

This is at the Burj Khalifa.

And for video of the amazingness that was happening over at The Palm, go here. Awe. (Although wild horses couldn't have convinced me to battle the traffic to see it in person)

Highlight of my week: Painting otters at the Dubai Acquarium and Underwater Museum

Yes, I saw Blackfish. I know all about aquariums. But, but - these otters are painting, with little tiny brushes!

Dubai wins World Expo 2020; UAE proceeds to have best day ever

So you may have heard that Dubai won the right to host the World Expo 2020 last night. The country had fireworks ready to go from the Burj Khalifa as soon as the news was announced in Paris - special enough, one would think. But the celebration did not stop there, nooooooo it did not.

Among the hard-to-imagine in Canada awesomeness that sprung from this news: today was suddenly proclaimed a national holiday, free coffee at Tim Hortons and free ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, a cool Google doodle and this, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, triumphantly raising the UAE flag atop the tallest building in the world.

There is some pretty cool video at his Facebook page, too.

Khloe Kardashian stops in Dubai to promote clothing line at Iconic, jokes about rapping, does not talk about hubby Lamar Odom

Here is the story.

PS: Smallest red carpet ever.