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boundforsaudi
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 243
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 Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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When I was in Dhofar about 3 years ago some of my students were from families who lived up in the hills. You drove up there in the middle of nowhere and there was some hut made of sticks and mud and tin or whatever and there would be a satellite dish on it. Guess they were watching reruns.
Last edited by boundforsaudi on Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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Could be... these programs were from the 50s-late 60s, and satellite dishes weren't allowed in until the mid-90s. In 1991, I put a big tall antenna on my place in Muscat, and when Jupiter aligned with Mars, I could pick up the English channel from the UAE - about 30% of the year. 
Maybe they were watching videos unless their viewing was since the 90s. Do these old shows still pop up on satellite now?
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sliderama
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 90
Location: al reef
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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well i think with the literally hundreds of channels now available on satellite tv pretty much worldwide, one can watch whatever one wants. given the penchant much of the world has for sitting back and rotting their brains on the boob tube ( Dhofar in no way or how exempted, maybe even more susceptible due to the 'newness' of it ), eventually a western or two will come up during the countless hours of couch surfing.
One of my students just gave me a journal entry on life in Salalah in 1969 describing how there was no electricity, no cars, no roads, no buildings, no schools, no shops, just camels and dust, with kids sitting under trees for 'entertainment', pretty stark description how much has changed in this region/country in 40 years! |
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While I was out
Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| At least they could sit down. When I was a young'n we had to stand up for laughs. |
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boundforsaudi
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 243
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| the cowboys show up and build wherever they can snag the land... and some older locals laugh up their sleeves that they tricked that foreigner. |
So anyway, my point is that these "older locals" and real cowboys are cut from the same cloth--both would know the likely path of a flash flood--and your use of the cowboy cliche in this context is a bum rap. I think a more appropriate name for your naive city planners, whether foreign or local, would be "metrosexuals." |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:42 am Post subject: |
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Sorry... but the term metrosexuals in this context... small town Oman... made me laugh out loud.
I'm obviously using "cowboys" in a way that you are not used to... shady businessmen who "ride in" to try to make some quick money ... and "ride" back out before anyone realizes that they were "robbing" the "bank." It is a common business term...
You seem to be stuck in the grandiose American legend of cowboy-ism.  I'm talking about the ones in the black hats perhaps?
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boundforsaudi
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 243
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| Oh yeah, we're talking about Sur, not Muscat. But no matter, the same thing happened in Muscat with the last hurricane, right? Heck, you ought to see the flooding in Salalah every year, and they know it's coming. |
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007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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It's all Bush's fault!
Uncle Sam signed the Kyoto protocol, but has no intention of ratifying, and now Oman is paying! |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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| boundforsaudi wrote: |
| Oh yeah, we're talking about Sur, not Muscat. But no matter, the same thing happened in Muscat with the last hurricane, right? Heck, you ought to see the flooding in Salalah every year, and they know it's coming. |
Without reading back over what I said before (about my short term memory...) I think my point was that with the first development, it was well thought out. But then the shady characters showed up and slapped up blocks of flats... and universities it seems... without any thought other than being able to purchase the land.
VS |
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While I was out
Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Right, cause nobody drives cars in the Sultanate... |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| While I was out wrote: |
| Right, cause nobody drives cars in the Sultanate... |
What? Did this post on the right thread?
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While I was out
Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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| It was in reply to the Kyoto comment. Sorry for not being clear. |
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