Dig

Had a great time so far in Istanbul. Been doing the regular touristy type things around town such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi palace, Aya Sofya and the Grand Bazaar. Grand Bazaar has been my favorite so far due to this kind of sass from the vendors:

"Let me sell you something you don't need"

"If we don't have it, you get it for free!"

and

"Don't go to that place, its shit." followed by a glare from next-door's shopkeeper. Very amusing. Between Dubai and Istanbul my haggling skills are developing nicely.

Checkout this toilet in Istanbul... sniper bum washer jet.

Spent last night staying in the Nazwah desert about 45 minutes drive east from Dubai. Getting out to the camp was via a brand new Land Cruiser with a leather covered rollbar driven by an insane Pakistani. This guy drove the dunes like he was surfing - we'd caine up a huge dune, almost roll off the other side before the driver would perform a cutback that Occy would be proud of.

Dubai is rulesome. We are staying in Bur Dubai which has a real community feel with souqs, traders, restaurants and its right on the Dubai creek. At night its jam packed with people and its great to stroll along the creek and just take in all the smells and sights.

Arrived in Dubai yesterday after a pleasant 11 hour flight from Perth. I kicked Caroline's butt in networked pong on the flight which made the flight go quickly.

The plan for today is indoor skiing, shopping, water park, beach and some sightseeing. Can't wait! For now, check out this picture of a Dubaian can complete with hand held bum washer jet:

Once again another gadget that I'm totally excited about. It's a cart made by Korg that turns your DS into a fully functional synth and step sequencer. Programming tunes on the train or anywhere is an awesome idea! It looks to be in line with the Korg Legacy range of controllers with the software looking a bit like the virtual MS20 editor.

Definitely getting one of these:

I love it.

Here is a pic from the psyche up before the 2XU Bribie Island Triathlon this Sunday. Virginia, Jo, Kat and I did the short course which was a 300m swim, 13k bike ride and 3k run. Vanessa did the long course which was a 1k swim, 28k bike and 8k run - something to aim for! The current in the pumicestone passage was going the wrong way so the swim felt more like 500m. We all had a great time and sprinting through the finish felt great!

Got around to doing a bit more on the MIDI Master project. I'm using the Windows Low Level MIDI API to read from MIDI devices and have worked out how to query all available devices. So you can select what device you want to use to play the game using the options screen below.

My latest musical discovery is the work of Betty Davis. No not the 30s Actor with apparantly alluring eyes but the unofficial queen of funk.

The band for most of her three albums is like a funk dream-team. Sly Stone's drummer, the horn section from Tower of Power and the Pointer Sisters on backup vox makeup some of the bigger names of the group but the real star is Larry Graham on bass. His sense of groove on the Betty Davis records is insurmountable and particularly framed in this track "Anti Love Song".

Seriously, what a bass line. I put it up there with Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23 or Pleasure - Glide.