Overheard in the newsroom: Super special weekend edition

"It's just turning the bloody lights off."
-British editor on Earth Hour

"You can't tell where the cake ends and the napkin begins."

"Teapot or squiggle?"
-UAE/dirham version of heads-or-tails

Gisele Bunchen covers up: H&M ads altered for Gulf's sensitive audience

Has anyone seen these yet? Coco Perez (click for more pics) reports the GCC decided to offer some new fashion ideas for H&M's more revealing looks. Did the censor go a little crazy with the Photoshop? Seems like Gisele has been "altered" too. This isn't surprising at all, considering the country does this to magazines like Glamour:

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 Interestingly, magazines that are produced inside the country seem to be able to get away with a lot more, and aren't subjected to the big black marker, either.

What will they use camel milk for next?

If you are like me and have exahusted your UAE-centric gift ideas for people back home (shorting of transporting actual camel milk, which would be gross considering the 14-hour flight, I am at a loss. There are only so many dates, Arabian carpet coasters and stuffed camels people in Canada can take) this new company has an idea for you - camel soap!

All you need to do is drop by www.camelmilksoap.com (awesome url, btw) to find their offerings, made from fresh, organic camel milk mixed with a variety of oils, shea butter - even dead sea minerals. The apparently brand new company seems to have plans to retail their product, but for now you can order it online.

People are always touting the immune system- boosting benefits of camel milk and this company is no exception, but I am not sure even if those claims are true that they would transfer into soap. Nonetheless, camel milk is undoubtedly hot right now (the UAE has big plans to export the product to the EU and beyond) and the people behind Camelmilksoap.com have serious expansion plans. According to their press release:


The makers of the handmade organic camel milk soap hope to export camel milk soap bars all over the world from their Arabian base which represents the true home of the legendary camel.

I do, however, agree that camels are legendary. 

Thanks Green Prophet, Jen Drexler, and "greenish"

Not sure if you know, but for awhile now I have been writing an eco-minded column in The National's weekend House & Home section. It has a bit of an embarrassing name. It's also part of the reason, combined with general busyness and a lot of important things going on in the world to pay attention to, why I haven't been writing here as much. However I am again turning over a new leaf about that.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the concept of "greenish" as an attempt to encourage expats like myself who dropped their sustainable ways upon arriving here to pick up the ball – even just a bit. A Middle East-based eco-blog I admire very much, Green Prophet, ran with it and interviewed the women's marketing expert in the US, Jen Drexler, who spoke about the phrase as well as referenced my original piece!

Thanks Green Prophet. You do good work. We need more people thinking this way over here, particularly considering the shameful results of a YouGov survey this week that said only 28% of Emiratis worry about whether there will be enough water and other resources to go around. And more than one-third of the people living in the UAE don't know what the term "sustainable" means. Oi.

Here is last week's column, on the upcoming Earth Hour. Tune in and turn off on Saturday from 8.30-9.30pm.

Emirates 24/7 photo of the day

I know, cute right? But it's been used to illustrate an AP story titled

"Dog ate toes of diabetic owner as he slept"

Overheard in the office: Super special Thursday edition

"Even if I had the money to buy a helicopter, I wouldn't dress up like Zorro."

"Today he looks like he spent the night in a bush outside."

"This is why I am so annoyed. You've been selling F16s to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for decades. Use 'em!"

Emirates 24/7, please do not stop being awesome

This is the picture that the online paper ran with a story about a man who tried to murder his wife by setting fire to her, prompting this (very justified) rant from the Kipp Report blog. You won't see the picture anymore, here. 

This rant doesn't even mention my personal favourite illustrative offering by the site's eccentric photo editors (long removed): a woman's stocking-clad legs poking out of a '60s era car trunk (boot) to illustrate the attempted kidnapping a rape of a woman in Dubai. 

The worst offenders don't usually stay up long, but it's the fact that they are chosen in the first place, as the Kipp report suggests, that is fascinating.