Izdihar - Magic Kingdom Escapology

Picked this little beauty up yesterday, along with a hard-shell case. This is a Cort gb-94. Can't wait to give this a run through the amp when I get it back to Riyadh. My bass playing is not exactly startling and I'd been looking for something with four… more »

Today I've decided to write about someone who is probably the best striker Stoke City have had for years, but one that comes at a price, though not a financial one. The price is having someone on the squad who can variously be brilliant and… more »

Is now nearly over. It was pleasant enough though. Once I get back to Riyadh, I can look forward to installing CS4 Web Premium and having a bit of a play. The chances are that Photoshop will get most use, though I am looking forward to seeing what can… more »

What a dreadful song that is. I don't care if Leonard Cohen sang it, or even if it was in Shrek, it's a bloody awful racket and needs eradicating from the airwaves. What on earth possessed anyone to record it again in such a whiny, tortured, my life is… more »

...no actually it's an ice-cream van in the street outside! Business is business I guess, even on December 24th... more »

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. It's a bit like that here at the moment. All I have to listen to is the gentle whirr of the PC next to me. The shopping is done, as is a… more »

It's the early hours of Sunday morning on 21st December. What's more, this time I have a pen! "This time" what? you might inevitably ask. I'm in an airport of course, and if I'm in an airport then I must be at a loose end and so the mind tends to occupy… more »

It seems I was right about the undersea cables in the Mediterranean. The news wires this morning are awash with stories of breaks in cables affecting coutries across the Middle East and India amongst others. One such sample story can be found here at… more »

It's Friday night and that means tomorrow is another work day - unlike many other work days, this is not so bad, as it's the last one I have to do before I fly back to the UK. This evening though, is proving to be a slightly frustrating one, as the… more »

I am mildly embarrassed to report that once more, I have won TPF Fight Club Round #5. I am not accustomed to winning anything, much less something that needs what might be loosely described as "my own skills". Now obviously, the first rule of 'Fight… more »

I've not blogged today and it's too late to start now, I've added a couple of links to the site though. Been trying to get my head round some Ubuntu server admin - no wonder I'm fried. Here's a photo from earlier today though, from my "Petrol Pump… more »

This is weird and I can't believe it will last, but all of a sudden my internet connection is running at warp speed. This has to be the fastest I've ever seen a connection run in in Saudi Arabia - maybe I'm the only one in the whole country on line at… more »

Actually, that approach worked really well and the end result was worth the wait. Much better than the microwave, which whilst quick, tends to deliver rather watery results. Same goes much the same for the chilli, the flavour and texture is improved by… more »

Forget the 1 hour bit. Just re-set the timer for another 15 minutes - damned foreign potatoes! At least the chilli looks good to go... more »

...is apparently done at 400F for an hour, turning half way through. As the oven has just beeped to say it's now up to temp, I shall pop a raw one in there and go for a quick cycle round the compound. It's cold out there - Brrrrr.... more »

I keep coming here wondering if anything will have changed, but it won't unless I do something will it. Ho hum... more »

Today is the last day across at Pownce. Some strange but probably predictable responses on the site today, with some using it as their last opportunity to vent some frustrations over its demise. There's little chance anyway that they'll get booted for… more »

Cracking set of challenges this evening, which caused much head scratching. Today's titles were: Mind Control Disconnected Cold This one's for the ladies Holds together You can see them over at the link on the previous post - you could even sign up to… more »

Just 25 minutes to go. Better get the camera ready and fire up PSE5 ready for action. Lets see what we can come up with this week - not so easy though as AM isn't around to throw in extra ideas for me. more »

Current: 140,93,55 #8C5D42 Possible: 190,144,117 #BE9075 more »

Tea break over. Hadj is done for another year and my local colleagues are now back at the coal face. Just for a change, I now feel like I can do something productive again, though exactly what is yet to become clear. Only a week to go till I bale out… more »

I think that slowly but surely, the blog is now coming together. Still a couple of small niggly things to suss out, like the fact that it won't let me create new categories from within the b2evo back office yet, but every indication says that this is a… more »

For anyone hitting this site for the first time, they are probably wondering why a European expat would end up with a domain name of izdihar.com. I've had the domain for quite some time now, probably since around 2000/01. The reason I got it was because… more »

OK, got that done. The image was taken from this one I took this afternoon Works out rather well I think. more »

That was a rather long evening of trying to get everything to behave itself in that skin. All the images now fit the width of 'leftside', which turns out to be 575px and I've also corrected an error in the way each individual post is set out - they are… more »

Well I can honestly say that worked considerably better than I could realistically have hoped for. The blog s/w has now been updated. It doesn't necessarily have my skin of choice, and some stuff needs resizing to get it to display images at a size I… more »

Just realised how old this version of the b2evolution application I'm running [1.10.2]. Given that they are now up to 2.4.5, maybe it's time I did something with it - ho hum, time for some skin action... more »

Too quiet in fact. At least the love of my life made it home safely this morning. Sounds like BMI wasn't as busy as might have been feared before she left. I gather the UK is rather colder than here though - not sure I fancy that much. Talked to my… more »

Eid day and it's quiet round here. The department ticks along on the strength of seven expats and Eddie - difficult to believe we have a headcount of 34, trying to go to 41. Still, the rest of the business is the same - never mind Mr Shareholder, your… more »

OK, I did things - 100 of them - best score to date at the golf course. No dramas, nice and steady, but too many shots frittered away in an offhand way. Got slightly burnt whilst I was at it - forgot my hat, dozy sod that I am... more »

It's cold this morning, only about 9C which round here is as good as being below freezing. Being so dry, there is nothing in the atmosphere that holds any heat, so it's a wrap up warm day. Must go now, things to do. more »

No, not what you're thinking. The more I look at this blog, the more I'm convinced it needs a new skin and probably something that isn't so busy at that. I guess that with the default stuff they throw a whole bunch of stuff in there to give you an idea… more »

It's quiet in the office now. Hadj has kicked in, the boss is away, so what's a guy to do? I've compiled an Amazon 'Wish List' for my Mum, browsed around for a while looking at studio flash kits, ordered a Sto-Fen for the 430ex, picked up a tall latte… more »