Oh, how my prayers have been answered:

Cheap: Check

Nearby: Check

Fresh air: Check

Ripping it up with a board strapped to my feet: Double check!

No group shot this time! Too busy boarding

Yesterday was Mongolia’s 85th independence day, and also marked the opening of Sky Resort, an alpine ski hill only 10 minutes outside of UB!  It’s the first of its kind in the country and well, I’m pretty impressed! Now, don’t get me wrong – it’s no Banff, but it’s definitely good enough to spend an afternoon or evening with some friends.  There is a four-person chairlift leading up to some pretty prairie-like green runs and another lift that takes you up in the vicinity of two blues and a black.  While only one of the blue runs is currently open off  the second lift, it’s in pretty good shape. Snow makers and a proper groomer are working overtime to get the other runs in business.

The lifts are horribly, horribly slow, but trust me – there’s entertainment.  From sky-high seats, you can watch an entire nation learning how to ski.  It. Is. Hilarious. Toques, sunglasses and skis flying everywhere, people crashing into the safety fences, others in an awkward tuck-and-flails…I thought watching people at the pool was bad!  This is just ridiculous!  Fair enough though – this is the first resort Mongolia has ever seen.

For kids and those who are a little more reluctant to hit the slopes, there’s a magic carpet lift and a toboggan run at the base of the mountain.

The place has an English-speaking staff and you can rent basically everything you need – minus gloves, goggles, and cap.  They have brand new winter gear that keeps you rather warm, Head snowboards, boots, and skis, and an ‘ok’ cafateria-style restaurant.

There are chartered shuttles from the parking lot just West of Grand Khaan Irish Pub, and the trip is only 10-15 minutes.  Careful though – potential microbus-esque ride!  Pack ‘em in like sardines, Bat!

I think we might head out again on Sunday to enjoy the -4 Celsius weather and sunny skies.  It looks like we’ve got ourselves a new activity to keep ourselves busy with the 9pm curfew and chilly weather. The website for the resort can be found here, and since the English site isn’t up, here’s a doc with the prices, operation times, etc: Sky resort

—

After getting back from the hill, we went to Grand Khaan for a bite and to enjoy some Mongolian national holiday celebrations.  Most people had Friday off, so the place was pretty packed.  BX and some boy band played and they had contests up on stage.  We met the most fascinating woman who paints with her feet underwater (yeah. woh!).  She showed us pictures and entertained us for the whole night in her cheetah print outfit and hat.  Amazing stuff!  You can see in the video that she had us transfixed.  Eventually we exchanged business cards, and I believe my reaction to her shiny, gold, 3D print card was “Holy S***!  You’re like Willy Wonka or something!” 

It may have been the energy spent, or the celebrations, or even the vodka…but yesterday had everyone ecstatic and in good spirits.  It was a much appreciated reprieve from what has felt like an eternity over the last few weeks.

-Rove Reporter

In what would have made headlines 2000 years ago, it seems the Mongol’s have finally been able to push a hole through the wall built to keep them out. In a government funded survey of the Great Wall, it had been discovered that a 90 metre portion had been irreparably damaged by Mongolian gold prospectors.

The damaged section was built by the Qin Dynasty between 220BC and 206BC. Only a tiny segment of the Qin wall remains, which was a reinforced earth barrier unlike the stone structure built by the Ming Dynasty 12 centuries later.

Any damage caused to the wall can result in a 500,000 yuan fine, or 10 years in prison. For taking out 90 metres of it, I am inclined to think a few death penalties just might be on the agenda!

A few weeks back, I blogged about a lecture given to us by Daniel Meadows where he explained his digital storytelling concept.

Enticed by the carrot of free beer offered by our online lecturer Glynn, I have given it a go myself.

I decided to focus on the trip that my sister and I took last summer on the Trans-Siberian railway. The results are below:

I enjoyed it so much that I am planning to do another digital story which I will post up soon.

As many of you already know, I’ve taken a keen interest in following the story of Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian journalist that was captured by Somalian kidnappers and held for ransom.

Whatever prayers people have been whispering across the nation and world have finally been answered and she has been released after 15 months in captivity!

You can read about her ordeal here.

It’s hard to explain why this story means so much to me, but I think it has a lot to do with how it could be any of us.  She is a courageous and dedicated journalist that just went out to do her job and found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It’s a lesson that every reporter should take heed to and hold at the back of their minds as they continue traveling to the most lawless and desolate corners of the Earth to tell the stories that should really matter to the public.  She’s paid a great price, but luckily, it wasn’t the ultimate one.

All my blessings to Amanda and her family.  I know this Christmas will be one happy holiday this year for you and yours.

-Rove Reporter

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new global version of Amazon’s Kindle for Christmas, be aware that there are still quite a few places that the global version will NOT work.  I was disappointed to find that the new version still will not work in my country.

Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.   I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in (below).

It’s also interesting to note the PATTERN of groups of countries where the Kindle doesn’t work–some countries probably lack satellite coverage or delivery systems, while others probably don’t WANT readers to be able to download whatever they want by satellite.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,  Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S.,  Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009) the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan,  Yemen.

At last I watched this documentary.  Last night I sat tranfixed as I watched this small boy riding across the Mongolian Step with his father.  What an amazing story.  The power of shamanism is such a powerful force, this is living testimony.    the following is just a short clip

I just discovered this delightfully-entertaining, half-hour episode comedy series about a diverse group of Muslims, set in a small Canadian town on on the prairie.  The 20-minute video above is the first episode.

The diverse group of Muslims in the town have the same disagreements among themselves that different groups of Muslims have in their own home countries, or even that different Muslim countries have with each other (between conservative and liberal views of Islam)–but all in an entertaining way.  Of course everyone in the town misunderstands things, in the same ways people misunderstand in real life.

Try this first video.  It’s a very cleverly done Canadian sitcom, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and Indian Head, Saskatchewan.   The first episode (above) was filmed in Regina.  Little Mosque is the most popular sitcom in Canada and has been syndicated in France, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Turkey, Israel, the West Bank, and African countries.  It is light-hearted, and family-oriented.  Expats who have lived in Muslim countries will especially enjoy this humorous series!

Links to all Little Mosque on the Prairie episodes (Seasons 1 – 4) can be viewed HERE (scroll down the page).   The links are free.

dari Malaysiakini

Mereka yang berfikiran waras akan membuat kesimpulan bahawa Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dilihat berkaitan dengan kehilangan P Balasubramaniam, kata peguam penyiasat persendirian itu Americk Singh Sidhu.

Menurutnya, fakta-fakta kelihatannya menunjukkan kepada kemungkinan mereka tidak mahu penyiasat itu lagi dan menyerahkan tugas itu kepada orang lain yang rapat dengan mereka, untuk dilaksanakan.

 Dalam wawancara dengan Malaysiakini, Americk memandang berat pembabitan adik perdana menteri, Datuk Mohamed Nazim.

Menurutnya, persoalan yang timbul ialah mengapa Nazim berminat dengan kehilangan Balasubramaniam “jika dia tidak mendapat perlindungan daripada abangnya?”

Balasubramaniam baru-baru ini mendedahkan bahawa dia pernah berjumpa dengan Nazim, seorang arkitek, pada malam sebelum dia menarik balik akuan bersumpah pertamanya yang mendakwa Najib ada hubungan rapat dengan Altantuya Shaariibuu, wanita Mongolia yang mati dibunuh.

Balasubramaniam turut mendakwa bahawa dia ditawarkan RM5 juta oleh seorang yang dikenali sebagai Deepak, seorang ahli perniagaan yang didakwa rapat dengan isteri perdana menteri Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor supaya menarik balik akuan bersumpah pertamanya.

Najib telah berulang kali menafikan spekulasi bahawa beliau di belakang tindakan Balasubramaniam menarik balik akuan bersumpah pertamanya itu.

Bercakap kepada Malaysiakini, Americk menceritakan bagaimana beliau diperkenalkan kepada Balasumbramaniam; tindakan bekas anggota polis Cawangan Khas menarik balik akuan bersumpah pertamanya Julai tahun lalu dan pertemuan seterusnya beliau dengannya selepas muncul semula daripada persembunyian setahun kemudiannya.

 Americk turut mendedahkan bahawa rakaman video wawancaranya dengan Balasubramaniam tiga bulan lalu, dibuat secara rahsia sebagai “satu jaminan sekiranya dia ditahan oleh pihak-pihak yang terbabit dalam pemergiannya dari negara ini setahun yang lalu.”

“Dia tidak tahu yang dia sedang dirakamkan pada masa itu, tetapi kita kemudiannya memaklumkan perkara itu kepadanya dan dia faham mengapa kita berbuat demikian,” katanya.

Menurut Americk lagi, Balasubramaniam mungkin melakukan kesalahan di bawah Akta Akuan Bersumpah 1960 kerana memberi akuan bersumpah yang bercanggah, tetapi dia boleh mempertahankan dirinya kerana dia nampaknya telah dipaksa, diugut dan/atau dipaksa menandatangani akuan bersumpah kedua”.

Tetapi, katanya, mereka yang didakwa menghasut akuan bersumpah kedua yang palsu dibuat – Deepak, ASP Suresh dan peguam M Arunampalam – juga berdepan dengan tuduhan jenayah kerana bersubahat dan berkonspirasi.

Mengenai Nazim pula, Americk mendakwa, dia terbabit dalam melakukan ugutan jenayah terhadap Balasubramaniam di samping kemungkinan didakwa bersubahat/konspirasi berhubung pembuatan akuan bersumpah kedua yang palsu.

Listening to the magnificent Susan Boyle adaptation of Wild horses of the Rolling stones. one of those  songs which one says how dare you  even thinking of touching such a tune. or lyrics. but she  takes it with her penetrating voice and she takes me to those wild  Mongolian landscapes  where you promised      you’ll teach me one day how to ride a wild horse. we tried in Israel when Tomer took us to his family stable  in the south and I had  been handed a  horse that I couldn’t control and  dropped me on a big stone with terrible pains and black signs for over 6 months. you fell inlove with me than realising you cant lose me. I fell inlove with you the  week after when you arrived to the hospital with bad  blood  and a memory of a kiss next to an  angry horse.

we never tried those wild horses in Mongolia  but I fell inlove with  you again and again and again. and now I’m listening to  this brave  lady and know that its time  to dare again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb3XAP0c8WU

Situado ao norte na China, na região sul da Mongólia, Gobi é um deserto de dimensões chinesas, imenso!

Com uma área de 1.295.000 km e medindo de leste a oeste 1600km e de norte a sul 800km, Gobi é um deserto do tamanho do estado do Amazonas. A temperatura média de -2,5 °C a +2,8 °C e extremos que chegam a 38,0 °C e -43 °C.

É um dos lugares mais áridos e de solo arenoso do mundo. Seu próprio nome “Gobi”, que no idioma mongol significa “lugar sem água” dá uma idéia da aridez do lugar.

As primeiras notícias do mundo ocidental sobre Gobi foram através das expedições de Marco Pólo (1254-1324). Posteriormente se tornou conhecido pelas descobertas arqueológicas. Em Gobi foram descobertos inúmeros fósseis de dinossauros intactos, mesmo de novas espécies, sendo importantes descobertas no campo da Paleontologia.

É possível encontrar em Gobi alguns oásis, irrigados por fontes subterrâneas, poços ou irrigações artificiais, que tornam possível a habitação de alguns grupos nômades, com criação de animais e vegetações rasteiras.

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Every once in a while, something comes along which makes one go WOW. If you’re listening to a song, it might be a sudden chord progression or perhaps, some nifty lyrical arrangement. Or, as is often the case with me, a simple matter of Uilleann pipes. If yer reading a book, some kind of word play, perhaps some literary technique; perhaps a dénouement, perhaps Chekhov’s celebrated rifles.

Such a moment might be something as banal as discovering some random trivia. Or it might have the brooding majesty of mountains wreathed in early morning mist. The point is, there are always things in life to amaze you, to bowl you over. Totally instinctive types. And leave you chuckling silently like some kind of a deranged Cheshire Cat afterwards. Which is much, much good

Saw me a movie today. By the name of Mongol. There was this one particular scene; the final battle sequence between Temüjin and Jamukha. No, not even the final battle sequence, the prelude to it actually. The apéritif, as they say. A detachment of horsemen, decked completely in black, masked, cloaked, scimitars in both hands, dagger grip, and looking something like this:

See, that's how you oughta use 'em swords

Now, multiply that image by forty, and have them arranged in parallel formation. Pretty good naa, but not yet cult. So, why am I raving about it? Is it because I am a prat? Is it because I am over-caffeinated? No, no, I won’t spoil it for ya. You’ve got to see the three minute odd long sequence for that. You’ve got to see the way it bloody ends. And then you can decide, whether or not to go WOW.

Photographer John Delaney travels to the remote reaches of Asia to document a dying Kazakh skill

Well after a disturbingly depressing few weeks FilmWipe365 is back with a bang.  My illness has gone (again I have not got VD as several people emailed so don’t worry you will not got a bout of te clap from reading this). If I had planned this better I would have reviewed the Korean film The Presidents Last Bang, however, I am lazy and heading to morbid obesity and didn’t think of this incredibly funny joke early enough.  I feel slightly ashamed to come back with this film.  It is like Robbie Williams 2007 return Rudebox – the first album in music history that made people want to get syphilis in their ears.  What makes the film worst is not the fact that you have to read another excruciatingly long review about how much I hated watching it, nor that I wish everyone involved with the film a short and painful career.  It is instead the fact that I was actually excited about watching it and instead had my hopes crushed much like David Furnish when he thought It’s a Boy Girl Thing would stop him from having to spounge off his sugar daddy Elton John.  Rudo y Cursi – the mainstream vehicle for Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal  – is frankly the weakest film I have had the misforune to watch for sometime and actually left me begging to watch films of the quality of the Break up and Eight Legged Freaks.

The film follows the brothers nicknamed Rudo (Diego Luna) and Cursi (Gael Garcia Bernal) on their journey from the bannana plantations in rural Mexico to super stardom playing football for two of the nations biggest teams.  It all kicks off for them when Batuta (a soccer scout) breaks down near their town.  After helping to fix his car the brothers compete against one another to get him to represent them.  Cursi wins and leaves their provincial home for Mexico City.  He is a big success and finishes as top scorer in his first season, which gives him the opportunity to follow his real passion, music.   Rudo has it a bit tougher.  Several months after Cursi, Batuta gives Rudo an opportunity with a rubbish team.  He leaves his wife and children to follow his dream.  After stuggling to get a place in the team in his first season he fortunately finds himself in the top flight. The second season in football contrasts hugely for the pair.  Cursi has lost form due to his relationship with a tv star and is on the verge of being sent to a lower division club.  Rudo, is close to becoming the best goal keeper in the history of the league.  However, his gambling addiction has left him owing money to some dangerous criminals and in the game against Cursi’s team he is asked to throw the game.  He is left with the dilema of following his dream or doing what he is told.

Well after what is possibly the longest description of a film in review history, I will get down to business (I can hear the sense of relief).  Until Cursi leaves for Mexico the film is desperately dull. The film offers very little about the depressing poverty that the pair grow up in. In some ways this is good, however there is hardly anything interesting.  And when you do get a flash of something interesting you’re so bored that you struggle to notice it (such as the abuse by her boyfriend of the pairs mother).  Cursi on his own in Mexico city is abut as exciting as staring at a beie wll for 15 hours.  It is so difficult to stay awake only repeated attempts at self harm will stop you from seeing most of the film with your eyes closed. 

Personally the most excruciating aspect of the film is Rudo’s gambling addiction.  From about 2 minutes into him arriving in Mexico city you quickly guess where the story is going.  It takes about 40 minutes to get to the point that you had magically predicted.  It is so painful to watch that cutting off my penis, cooking it on an open fire and then sharing it with a small Mongolian family as I slowly bleed to death seems a tempting alternative.  There is nothing I  loath more than being able to predict what is going to happen.

If I had my way Radovan Karadžićy would not be the only one in the Hague waiting to serve trial for crimes against humanity.  Director Carlos Cauron deserves to be sentenced to a life punishment for what he has done to cinema.  Technically the film is ok.  However, as the boy genius who wrote and directed this horror show he takes full credit for the misery he has brought on the world.  The script is terrible.  Even his mum would struggle to tell him that this was any good.  The dialogue between characters is so turgid it makes watching paint dry genuinely seem quite exiting.  His direction does little to excite the senses.  Worst of all he manages to make two excellent actors seem like David Arquette.  This is quite a skill as David Arquette is so bad that even genital crabs seem like Oscar nominated actors in comparison to him.

Overall this should be avoided at all costs.  Even football thugs will be bored as you only see about 1 minute of football.  Save money and do something else.

1/10 – If I couldgive minus figures Iwould but I don’t want to give it the infamy.

People’s Republic of MONGOLIA

stamp: 5 mong

year: 1959

mammal: sable

Today, Emily and I went on a mini excursion into the Gohri-Terelj National Park.  It was gorgeous, as you will see below.

On a potential sad note, China’s government has put a block on many websites, most notably Facebook and blogs. We’re not sure if we’ll be able to access WordPress or not, but we’re crossing our fingers they let our harmless little old blog through the cracks.

Throughout most of Russia and Mongolia, the statues are two things: big and intense. This behemoth sits at the north end of Suhkbaatar Square.

Rob's very first pagoda. This one sits opposite the statue of Genghis Khan at the south end of S. Square. It's dedicated to world peace.

Chinggis is the Mongolian translation of Genghis, as in Genghis Khan: Lord of the Mongol Empire, granter of first tax emeptions to teachers and doctors, and instituter of legal equality for all people regardless of religion or sex.

All museums and public offices (including school) are closed until further notice. Bad timing, H1N1. Bad timing.

A Buddhist shrine in the Gohri-Terelj National Park. The hill is made from rocks piled by worshipers. A tossed rock and three times walking around the hill give good luck.

The rock formation in the background looks like a giant turtle (trust us). Inside though, it's hollow.

Climbing Turtle Rock.

The temperature dropped 10 degrees inside the cave. It was literally the coldest place I've ever been in my life.

Speechless.

Emily on Mongolian horseback. After an hour in the freezing cold, we were like Harry & Lloyd from "Dumb & Dumber" with snot frozen to our faces.

http://www.getoutthebox.org/

” A nonprofit for at-risk youth”

Hey Supporters Join our facebook cause page @ http://apps.facebook.com/causes/383281/77128247?m=7d205f0f and Invite your friends!!

http://www.youtube.com/getoutthebox1

1) The number one celebrity used in ads for shoes in Mongolia: Shrek.  (Says something about what they look for in their footwear, huh?)

2) Mongolian currency is the togrog (pronounced tugrug) and is valued at 1433 to 1 US dollar.  That means, pulling $200 from an ATM is pulling 286,600 togrogs. Our pockets are bulging!  (And each of you is getting a 100 tg. bill for Christmas.)

3) Food is insanely cheap here by Western standards.  2500 tg gets you a plate of stir fry and rice.  Comically enough, Coca-Cola costs 1500 tgs a can.

4) Many of Ulaanbataar’s street signs and business names are in English, which is helpful.  The US seems to have an odd relationship with Mongolia.  On the one hand, signs and menus are in English, a lot of people speak some English and they accept American money as currency.  US nationals have a visa-waiver for Mongolia, which means we can enter for free for up to three months.  On the other hand, Mongolians can’t do the same – it costs a heavy price to come to America if you’re Mongolian.  And there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much evidence of tourism as we’re used to.  Strange.

5) The weather here is -20 celsius (-4 F), yet many people are dressed the same as American teenagers headed to the mall: no hat, thin gloves, a light coat, and shiny shoes or sneakers (black and white checked Converse All-Stars are popular).  As we parade around the city in our valenkis, people literally laugh out loud at us.  Amazing, really.

6) People really, really like Genghis Khan (or as they call him, Chinggis Khan).  They named streets, plazas, beer, vodka, guns, watches, camel-hair wool vests, and a car after him.

7) The days of the week are sometimes abbreviated using numbers.  1=Sun, 2=Mon, etc.  And just when we were getting used to military time!

In America, when you hear a loud, catchy jingle emanating from a truck, you know it is the ice cream man.  Not so in Mongolia: the garbage truck plays a loudspeaker tune through the streets.

9) The number one item you will find in the bathroom stalls in Mongolia: matches.  How hilariously Tim Allen of you, Mongolia.  Beats Lysol any day of the week.

10) Everyone – from the street market vendors to the fancy restaurant and pub tenders – carry pocket calculators to determine the cost of an item.  Their fingers move like lightning!

11) It is legal to buy American-style or British-style cars; that is, cars with the wheels on the left or right side.  This makes for a lot of confusion when trying to cross the street.  “Ahhhh!  That car doesn’t have a driver!  And it’s headed right for me!  Oh wait, nevermind…”

12) The entire city of Mongolia has a bedtime.  9pm.  Because of the swine flu epidemic, there is 9pm curfew in effect and all museums and public offices have been shut until further notice.  Bad luck for us, but really bad luck for swine flu, which apparently spreads faster after 9pm.  (right?)

This post is coming at you from one of our many “re-warming” pit stops, which occur about every 20 minutes.  As you will see below, we have had quite a full 24 hours.

Last night, we stumbled upon a fellow traveler named Jesper that we met in Russia.  He was staying at our Mongolian hostel, too since rooms were $4 USD per night (breakfast included).  He proposed an 8-day excursion into the Gobi desert, accompanied by a guide who would take us from ger (yert) to ger to stay with traveling nomads.  The hostel owner and tour group coordinator explained everything to us using his whiteboard map: What would we eat? (Our guide would cook vegetables for us that they would bring along in the caravan).  Where would we sleep?  (In a ger, which is a felt tent that insulates heat extremely well).  What if we get out there and realize our jackets aren’t warm enough?  (They have 1 extra blanket on the trip for sleeping, but nothing more).

After reading reviews of the trip and seeing photos, we tentatively agreed.  Truth be told, you can’t beat a $35 USD a day excursion like this.  As a bonus, a fellow traveler gave me his hiking boots for free, which saved me some money for supplies and fit snuggly.

We awoke early and, new hiking boots on my feet, we headed to the local Buddhist Monastery, where, as luck would have it, his Holiness Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa was entering the site for the first time in his lifetime.  After doing a bit of research, we found out that his Holiness is what Mongolians (and many other Buddhists) consider to be the 9th reincarnation of Buddha in human form.  So, a very very big deal.

It was towards the end of this hour-long ceremony that I realized my toes were numb.  A quick socks-off check confirmed: frostbite.  And for those of your picturing the “black nose and disfigured hand” type of frostbite, that’s not it.  That is what crazy explorers in the Arctic Circle get.  This is the “shooting pains and numbness, plus my foot feels like a solid pad of rock in my shoe” kind of frostbite.  The kind that crazy Arctic explorers get right before they start losing toes.  It’s technical term is frostnip, but the line between the two is a fine one.

After walking home (another 20m), most of my foot had become numb and white.  But, Dr. Emily was a patient and knowledgeable doctor, and I was saved in about 30m of rewarming.

Thus, we wisely decided against the Gobi Desert trip (which would have set us back a few hundred in proper equipment to avoid further scenarios like these).  We agreed that in SE Asia, where weather will not be an issue, we might venture out into the wild.  But, for now, we are content to stay within the city walls.

I believe that Emily and I had frostnip, not quite frostbite. But, as further research indicates, the line between the two is about 5-10 minutes if the area is not rewarmed. Perhaps then, we had superficial frostnip.

…oh THAT tattoo!  Okay, now I remember!

Well, It’s all done.  Healing up rather nicely, and the pain is a rather distant memory at this point.

Many people are probably wondering what it’s all about.  Well, I’ve had this idea in my head for quite some time in some capacity.  There was a book that a friend had recommended to me many, many years ago and it sort of changed the way I thought of the world (long story, and rather tragic).  The book was “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.  Very simple read, as anyone who knows Coelho can attest, but the message is clear: Follow your dreams – no matter what.  It tells the story of a shepherd named Santiago who leaves his flock and goes on a journey to find his “personal treasure”.  On the way, he meets a girl named Fatima.  She is gathering water from her town’s well and he is absolutely mesmerized by her.  He goes to speak to her, confesses his love, and essentially says that he’s head over heels and wants to stay with her.  She says to him “The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes. That’s the way it will be for our love for each other. If I am a part of your dream, you will come back one day”.  To me, this says a lot about goals, friendship, and love.  It’s about keeping the people in your life close and knowing they will still be there if you fade away for a while. It’s about being supportive of other people’s fate and supporting your own.  It’s about having your eye on the prize, whatever that prize may be, and being determined to get it.  That’s where I am right now in my life: I’m searching for my ‘personal treasure’, although I might not know what it is yet.

So the tattoo actually says “Салхи элсэн манханыг өөрчилдөгч, элсэн цөлийг өөрчилж чадамуй” in Mongolian vertical script (how’s your Mongolian??), which translates to “The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes”. I got the script translated by my best friend and translator Degii and the vertical script was written by another artist named Ava.  We got the script checked at the Mongolian National University by some very kind ladies, and it was all uphill from there!

It was done by Tegshee at Elegance Salon across from the Art Market (On the street running North/South, East of State Department Store. Walk down about a block. It’s on the East side of the street near some antique stores – his room is in the very back of the shop).  Degii found him through some friends who say “he’s the best”.  I’d looked at a few other artists,  but this man’s portfolio sold me.  He was the winner of Best Portrait, Best Tattoo, and Best Tattoo Artist at the tattoo convention in Mongolia this year (see image).  He’d also done some work on the lead singer of the popular band Lemons and it turns out, the only tattoo I’d seen that I liked was on a guy who happened to be his brother!  He also used to work at a tattoo shop that I was trying to find called Sax Studios, which was praised by a monk who was tattooed in Mongolia. Looks like I’d found my man.  He was really clean -  welled his ink, opened all his needles in front of me, and all that jazz.  He doesn’t speak English, but conversation was sort of at a minimum anyway.  He really concentrates and gives it his all.  Degii came along with me and took a ton of pictures and put up with a lot of swearing, so that was really nice!  I was pretty exhausted after the whole ordeal, so I headed home for a long nap afterward.

Here are a few pictures from the process:

Outline for the tattoo

“Oh…oh no.  What am I doing?” face

Here we go! Mid-back, outline

“Are we done yet?” “Almost…but not really”

Find your happy place

Find your…OW! NO NO NO! OUCH!

Getting there

Why is it that the last little bit was the slowest?All done!  Time for a victory club sandwich at UB40!

-Rove Reporter

It’s -26 and “smoky” right now, according to my browser toolbar weather report for Ulaanbaatar, which means I’ll probably spend the majority of the day indoors again!  When I first read about the weather over here, I just looked at the highs, lows, and averages and assumed that it would be incredibly similar to the weather I’m used to back in Saskatchewan.  Turns out, it is, except the air smells like a charcoal barbeque pit and the cold sunk in a few weeks too early! This winter is also supposed to be colder and snowier than average, according to news.mn.

Life has been rather uneventful because of a curfew that was imposed two weeks ago, and reimposed yesterday.  Because of the rapid spread of H1N1, all bars are closing at 9pm, school is out, and all public events are cancelled.  This has put a serious cramp in my arts reporting for Mr. Tugs.  For the last few weeks, the junior site has been rather weak on content.  As of yesterday, the country’s infected population reached 1,015 and there have been 16 deaths.  Although we were all ready and raring to hit the mean streets of UB yesterday for the first night on the town in quite some time, the curfew was reimposed and we were stranded yet again.  Not only that, but an attempted trip to Narantuul (The Black Market) last week for Christmas presents to bring back home was also a complete failure.  Turns out that’s closed too.

The nice thing is, the curfew has also encouraged people to be a lot more creative with activities!  I held a Halloween Party at my apartment on the 31st and a (ridiculously organized) group of friends at an apartment Tower downtown held an “Around the World” party last Saturday.  We all had to dress up as different countries, or people from different countries, for starters.  Then we started at one apartment (Iceland, I believe) where we were issued our passports for the night.  We’d spend about an hour at each place before heading off to the next.  We found out our destinations by receiving a sticker from the host of each party!  They also organized it so there was at least two parties going on at all times.  Kenya (my home country at the time) featured the most amazing traditional food.  Mexico…well, the people hosting Mexico decided we were all deported to America to the traditional “College House Party” where we had to do competitions to get our green cards: Quarters, power hour, US trivia, or “make-out-with-someone-who’s-not-your-significant-other-on-the-balcony”.  Sounds like a college party to me (Katie? Any comments on this one?).  For the record, I did power hour. Ingenius AND SO much fun.

Oh, and tattoo?  What tattoo?

-Rove Reporter

I spent every day of last week providing intensive training sessions for NGOs at the Open Society Forum (the huge philanthropy funded by George Soros). It was challenging, but it was also great fun. I was training NGOs working on the environment, human rights, open governance, budget reform and other issues. One of the highlights for me was the work with a coalition of 12 organizations that are trying to minimize the impact on mining in the Gobi Desert. I believe that this will become the single largest issue in this country.

The government has been negotiating for years with Canadian and Australian mining companies, and just a few months ago they signed an agreement to allow open pit mining in the Gobi Desert. This will be the largest copper mine in the world and will quadruple Mongolia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The mine should be open by 2014 and is expected to produce copper (and revenue) for approximately 80 years. This will be a huge amount of money for this most rural and isolated country.

One of the largest deserts in the world, the Gobi (its name is Mongolian for desert), is located in the southern part of the country where it borders on China. The mine will employ more than 10,000 people and even though the agreement calls for 80 percent of these people to be Mongolian, the experts I spoke with told me that the companies will not find even 50 percent of Mongolians that want to do this work in the most remote area of the country. The Chinese government is participating in the deal because they want access to the cooper, so it is likely that much of the labor will come from China.

The mines will be located in a small village, with a current population of less than 500 people. You can imagine the impact the mines will have on this community and this part of the country. There will be entire towns built, and extensive road and railroad systems laid down to carry the copper to distribution points. Huge underground water reserves will be used in the mining process, greatly reducing the water table and imperiling the ground water and river systems. Remember this is a desert!

I mentioned in my last report that I spent a weekend facilitating a retreat in a Ger camp in the countryside with the Responsible Mining Initiative. They are trying to encourage the government to develop a responsible policy for all mining, including a prospective gold mine that could be the third largest gold mine in the world. One of the strategies we discussed is to make the mining companies pay for monitoring the environmental impact of their work by providing resources to environmental NGO’s . It is clear to me that although the government should play the monitoring role, it cannot because of the self-interest of the members of Parliament and the graft and corruption that will only increase with these new resources. I suggested that the NGOs pressure the government to set up a tax based upon a percentage of revenue that is taken out of the land—these are resources that can never to be replaced! The tax would be used set up a trust fund (completely separate from the government’s general fund) to provide on-going support and sustainable resources for the environmental organizations and other independent monitors. In the United States we are in a financial mess in part because the government did not monitor and regulate the financial, housing and investment corporations as they should have. We have had 225 years to practice democracy, while Mongolia has had less than 20 years.

I believe there is a strong role for RMA in Mongolia and I want to continue to support the emergence of their civil society sector. I met with the entire Political Science Department of the National Mongolian University (the flagship school) to discuss the possibility of an exchange program. We are developing a plan to bring 10-15 of our Masters of Nonprofit Leadership Students from Regis University to Mongolia next year. We are also planning a bi-lateral symposium next June to look at the state of civil society and the National Mongolian University wants to add courses to help develop the NGO sector throughout the country.

I loved my time in Mongolia and this trip was one of the best of all my international experiences. What I like about this country is that even though there are major social problems—poverty, alcoholism, air pollution, environmental damage, government corruption—there is a wonderful sense of optimism in the future and people are willing to get involved and fight to make democracy work. In many of the countries Richard Male and Associates (RMA) is working in people can’t wait to get out, but Mongolians in Diaspora are moving back to get engaged and involved in their country’s future. There is a real sense of hope and optimism and I have met very few people that are interested in leaving Mongolia to move to the U.S. or other places. It is great to see.

The weather continues to be very cold and the quality of the air in Ulaanbaatar is poor, but the people are wonderful. It is really exciting to be welcomed by them and to be able to play a part in the development of their democracy.