Travelling with Gershom

It's hard to believe that 30 days have passed since my last post (not the last post, thankfully). December has been a busy, busy month. And I suspect it has been for you as well, dear reader, what with Eid, Christmas, and the rapidly approaching conclusion to 2007. (I am reminded of an email I received from a colleague a few years ago, soliciting support for a needy family at Christmas. She attempted to create a sense of urgency by noting that "Christmas was vastly approaching", but only succeeded in creating an exchange of amusing emails ranging from wondering just how big the season really is {It's huge!} to pirate jokes {Maybe she meant avastly approaching.}) The end of one year and the start of the next is a time of reflection for many people, and I am no exception. 2007 was a great year, and I expect 2008 will be the same. Every year has been a great year. I have been blessed my entire life, with family, friends, health, all the things that truly matter. I&

Most of the time here in Qatar we don't think about the weather. It's going to be sunny and hot, or sunny and warm, or sunny and really hot. But when we start to edge towards December, the weather takes on an edge of its own. While midday temperatures are still reaching the high 20s, once the sun goes down the warmth disappears with it. Evening temperatures are around 22 or 23, but it feels much colder. And early morning can drop to 18 or less; when I left for work on Thursday it was 14. The security guards at the gate have started wearing hats, scarves, and gloves after sunset. They managed to get out quickly; there were news reports this week of some heavy buying of winter wear. So tomorrow I will be going out to buy a heater, since they tend to get bought up rapidly. We don't need a wood stove, just a little something to take the dampness and chill out of the air. Sounds like a strange comment to make in a desert country, but remember Qatar is also a maritime country, a

It's like a treasure hunt, reading the local daily newspapers here in Doha. On any given day, you can find unusual turns of phrase, archaic or unfamiliar words, or unintended comedy in the stories penned by the ink-stained wretches who toil at their keyboards. Yesterday's Qatar Tribune , for example, had the following headline in one of its front page stories: "Qatarisation gets fillip at career fair". (Qatarisation is a program designed to bring more Qatari nationals into a workplace.) Fillip? According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, the word dates from 1519, and has several meanings. The first defines it as "a blow or gesture made by the sudden forcible straightening of a finger curled up against the thumb" , an unlikely application in this scenario. The second definition provides insight into the headline - "something tending to arouse or excite as a stimulus" - and helpfully provides an example: "just the fillip my co

I should be reading not for fun but for profit. I don't mean that in a monetary sense, but rather that I should be reading critically rather than for pleasure. At least when it comes to materials for my doctoral studies. The goal of a literature review is to conduct an analytical evaluation of the research that has been previously conducted on a topic. In my case, this will require a review of the literature in services marketing, consumer behaviour, interpersonal psychology, and relationship marketing (the first three for certain, the latter a possibility). A critical review of any article or book will require an initial skimming, some time for thoughts to percolate, and then a detailed reading to verify (or refute) my initial thoughts. So reading with pen and paper to hand will be critical. Which means that I will be sitting at my desk, iPod on, far more often than I am doing now. This strikes me as a good way to read more generally, non-fiction anyway. For example, I am currentl

The "social life of information" is an interesting notion. I read of it in an article by Anthony Grafton entitled Future Reading , published in The New Yorker. He references this idea from John Seeley Brown and Paul Duguid, which suggests that how one uses a text is influenced by the form in which one comes across it. For example, marginal notations in a book of poetry, inscribed by an earlier reader, can influence how we read and respond to the poems. Information can also be gleaned from the physical construction of the text, as to its age, quality, and so on. If this is accurate, how diminished will our experience and understanding of books and texts be if they are eventually only to be found in digital editions? Grafton lays out an illuminating historical argument for why this is unlikely, discussing the difficulties associated with trying to catalogue the world's texts since the advent of the printing press. But repeating his argument is not my purpose here (though th

A long-time wannabe writer, I decided to start a blog to practice writing and typing skills (working on a PhD requires both, and yes, dedication too). But I am also motivated as this can be a way to explore ideas and to reflect on my doctoral research, so be prepared, dear reader, to sometimes have to slog thorough my blog. Reflection is key to developing a research imagination, which is critical to making a contribution to knowledge (the major criterion for being awarded a doctorate). One way of doing this is to keep a research diary, of which this blog will form part. The diary will also be useful in writing up the dissertation. A well-developed research imagination is also core to successful commercial research. In the marketing communications business, insight drives strategy which drives execution. And insight does not simply spring from data that have been collected. You have to put the data in context: the client's business, the marketplace, the changing environment locally

I didn't realise that Abu Dhabi is basically on an island. At last, the city of Abu Dhabi is on an island. The Emirate, the largest of the United Arab Emirates, is composed of a large mainland portion and a number of islands in the Arabian Gulf. Incredible plans are in place for one of these islands. Saadiyat lsland will be home to 150,000 people as well as an incredible tourism destination. A quick look at the cultural district shows why. Of the five amazing facilities planned for this area of the island, three stand out in my opinion due to their focus, their pedigree, and their design: The Louvre Abu Dhabi will include both permanent and visiting collections, and its design incorporates light and shadow via a canopy that allows sunshine through. The Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum certainly continues in the Gehry tradition (and surpasses the Guggenheim in Bilbao). To be situated at a point on the island, jutting out into the water, this will be a striking landmark. Fina

Or in this case, along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. Here on a quick business trip, Brian Cull and I were invited by two fellow Newfoundlanders - Bob Richards and Brian Colbourne of CERT - to come along for an evening sail on Monday. It was a lovely cruise, with great conversation and company. About 30 of us were aboard the Shuja Yacht, a little tired but still lovely vessel about 50 feet in length. The lower deck was set for dining, while the upper held an enclosed bar as well as an open area on the stern with some seating and beautiful view of the city. The respective corniches (if that is a word) of Abu Dhabi and Doha are strikingly different. I counted only two cranes here; along a much shorter stretch in Doha one easily sees a dozen or more. In contrast to the frenetic pace of construction in Doha, with its clamour and dust, we floated along serenely, as the lights of office towers, street lamps, and headlamps twinkled in the background. Although it may seem strange, the Corniche sky