Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with east

Good books / Documentaries on the Middle East?

happydude123 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:09:58 -0800

Good books or documentaries about the middle east Hi all,

I am planning to do an independant research project for my political science class on the middle east. I need a topic and a general direction so that I can start researching for a thesis. I was wondering if you guys could recommend any good documentaries, books, or anything that would help me get started. I would like to talk about some aspect of the effects of US presence / policy in the region. Maybe some clash of civilizations, but any suggestions would be helpful

Thanks

working in Qatar for young women

whatzit — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:37:13 -0800

Expat life in Doha, Qatar: I am likely to relocate in two weeks to a country I have never been to. My biggest concerns are 1) the work environment in general and specifically for a young American woman trying to get things done in an industrial, engineering position and 2) the social life for said young women, who are used to having a lot of guy friends. I am not concerned about alcohol or pork. I am concerned about the seasons, lots of driving, and being surrounded by people who came to get rich (see threads on the Emirates, e.g.). Based on the responses in other AskMes, I am a bit concerned about boredom.

If there is anything like an (international) community of researchers or graduate students, I do want to know about that.

Reuniting with a headmaster for an expensive school in Australia named Ron..

Quarter Pincher — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:54:53 -0800

I'm looking for a forgotten chat-friend from over 10 years ago. All I remember is that his first name is Ron, and he was a headmaster at a school in eastern Australia, got to drive a Aston Martin as a work benefit, and once took a group of students to visit America in the Seattle area. He gave me some advice that I later took up, and would like to tell him how much of a difference (good) it's made. I might remember his last name if I saw it. Is there a way to find a list of headmasters of all schools in eastern Australia, that are wealthy enough to offer their headmasters an Aston Martin as a company car? I recall him having told me the name of the school and I looked up the site just once, back then, so I might vaguely recall that if I saw it, also. Any ideas on where to start looking?

Photos of soviet bloc villages

cascando — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:40:15 -0800

I am looking for images, or a photoblog, of eastern european villages. Think dusty, soviet bloc style, with maybe a of Borat-esque comedy. Its for a film treatment I am working on. Any help with where to get some imagery of Uzbek villages or something similar would be greatly appreciated. Even a link to a relevant Flickr pool would save me. Thanks again.

Travelling with Swine flu risks: Safety vs Bargain

gttommy — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:12:08 -0800

Safety and budget -wise, should I buy a heavily discounted ticket now to SE Asia in January 2010? More details inside... Hi guys!

I am calling on the powers of mefi to help me in a time of swine flu fear...

I am afraid of the Swine flu getting worse and I hear it's pretty serious in those hot tropical countries.

While at the same time I would like to know whether there would be cheap flight deals leading up to Jan next year, based on historical trends. Any bargain travel shoppers here who can speak from experience?

If it is unlikely, I will have to just take up the bargain and hope that Swine flu doesn't get too bad in around 5 months time!
If likely, I will play the pragmatist and just wait it out a little more for the next hot airfare deal.

Many thanks.

East Coast Surfing

gonadostat — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:37:42 -0800

Where is the best place to learn how to surf on the east coast? I have no significant experience, but three days of vacation at the end of next week and would like to go somewhere warm to take some surfing lessons in the eastern time zone. Any recommendations for geographic locations and/or instructors?

Why have the NBA's western teams been better than its eastern teams in recent years?

ORthey — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:06:52 -0800

Is there a geographical reason the NBA's Western Conference has been so much better than the East? What's the deal? It does seem in the past couple years the East is catching up and, who knows, maybe is better this year, but that said - the West has been dominating (at least during the regular season) for some time now. I wonder if anyone knows of any articles that specifically address WHY and HOW this happened, rather than what I see all the time, which is more about PROVING the west's superiority, using stats and such.

Given that there are no rule differences (as in MLB with the DH, for example, which leads to totally different strategy), it doesn't make any intuitive sense that teams in one half of the country would generally be better than the other - other than migration of better players to the better conference.

Ideas, theories, and resources welcome!

Multi-tasking in the Middle East.

milkdropcoronet — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:16:07 -0800

Multi-tasking in the Middle East -- planning a trip to the region and have a few goals to accomplish. Besides being a vacation, this trip is also equal parts family reunion and cultural diaspora study (personal, not academic). Looking for tips on this kind of trip! Most people asking questions about travel to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, etc. tend to be contractors, workers, people looking to follow the money trail at an emerging center of the global economy.

Me? I'm trying to meet long-lost relatives from the Philippines -- cousins my age (late 20's) who moved to Saudi Arabia and the UAE because they found opportunities there that were more attractive than the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Ultimately, I'm interested in the macro story of Filipinos working abroad, and how our culture evolves and adapts to the countries we work in.

There are a lot of moving parts to a trip like this, so I'm in a research-gathering stage.

- At the minimum, I need to find a place to stay for 3-4 weeks. Staying with my relatives may not be an option. Are there any long-term stay arrangements? Rent a condo? Couch-surfing? Craigslist?
- Something "structured" would be helpful too -- it can be anything from a volunteer abroad program to an internship. Besides absorbing the culture, I'd like to be actively helping in a service organization, or learning something in a structured environment. (Universities are being built at a rapid pace there, and big institutions like NYU are opening campuses in Dubai.)
- Any professional events are also cool to attend. Media conferences, world expos, etc. Anything geeky, techy actually. Not sure if that kind of stuff has made it to the Middle East yet, but I'm sure there are at least a few in 2009. Knowing about these events could help me time when I plan to visit.

My questions are pretty broad, but any info is appreciated as I shape this itinerary.

CPA in the east bay

NGnerd — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:02:50 -0800

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good CPA in the east bay (San Francisco) area. We don't know many locals who don't use turbo-tax and have a complicated year's worth of taxes. We live in Hayward california, and i've searched google, CL, Yelp, and metafilter, but have yet to find a good site recommending local CPA's. We've got some wierd stuff in our taxes this year and therefore i'd like a professional to check out our issues. somehow i don't think turbo tax will have good info for the following:

*Moved from DC to SF december of previous fiscal year (should have been covered with last years taxes). My wife's company paid for the move and temporary housing into the new year, but we're not sure if we count it as income

*Bought our first house, as part of a new job my wife's company paid our closing costs and a point, i'm not if this counts as income either

*Put about 4K into an IRA, but now i'm not sure if we made too much income to use it tax free.

I want to get a human to look at all this, but i don't trust the H&R block type stores. I know a real CPA will cost me some more money, but i'd like to keep it less than $250 if possible. We could also use a financial planner, but i'm not sure if most CPA's do double duty as that as well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Where is the Napa Valley of the East?

genial — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:24:45 -0800

Planning a wine tour vacation in the spring (late April) and wondering where the Napa Valley of the Eastern US is? We live in Virginia and have a great variety of wines in the western region. We will be planning the vacation with my brother and his fiancee who live in Kentucky. Anywhere within 10 hours or so inbetween and around those regions is fair game. A few things:

Obviously we don't want to be traveling 5 hours during the day just to get to 1 winery so anywhere that has a large variety in a clustered location would be great.

Other things to do near those locations would be a bonus. I know Lexington, VA has a lot of great options for wine along with a lot of tourist attractions and spots. Things along that line would be great.

Is Spring a bad time of year to be doing this? I know little about the seasons and timings but I wondered if most wineries would still be open with a previous year's vintage or if they would be closed while planting/harvesting/etc. Any insight into this?

How to turn East Village apartment into speakeasy joint

dvjtj — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:42:33 -0800

How to turn East Village apartment into 'speakeasy joint' for dinner parties I have a very small East Village apartment with one room where the bedroom / kitchen / living room are all in one space. The idea of having dinner parties came up amongst friends, and I want to deck the place out so it harkens back to an old 1920s speakeasy so more people will come over. Is there an easy way to do this? I have bare white walls, a bed, HDTV, and other small things (rugs, loveseat). Is it even possible to do this? What suggestions do you have? Anything is appreciated.

Victorian era travel journals and exploration books?

thewalrus — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:02:55 -0800

I'm looking for historical travel journals and books in the public domain. Specifically I'm interested in anything related to Victorian era exploration of the middle east and central Asia. About one month ago I came across the Project Gutenberg collection of books written by Arnold Henry Savage Landor, who seemed to delight in traveling "the hard way". As an example, in 1902 he decided to ride the train from Moscow to Baku, get on a Caspian lake steamer, travel to a port in Northern Iran and make his way over land through Iran to the western end of Balochistan, and from there to Quetta. In true Victorian era explorer fashion he brought a huge and unwieldy collection of scientific instruments, cameras, modern rifles, pistols and other things which baffled the local population. Reading any of his books one shifts between a sense of amusement (the guy believed in phrenology!) and genuine fascination at his observations of places and cultures that had rarely been explored or contacted by English speaking cultures. He goes into some detail about the historical, tribal and cultural background of the people in western Balochistan and southern / south-west Afghanistan.

Another example of a book in this genre is the Mark Twain non-fiction work Following the Equator in which he devotes a large section to describing his 1895 travels over-land throughout Australia, India and South Africa, with many amusing Twain-style anecdotes about the local cultures seen from the perspective of an American humor writer.

I'm looking for more public domain books in this style, although the Victorian era doesn't need to match exactly. Scientific observations aside, I found Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle to be a fascinating read. If it's something I can get from Project Gutenberg in plain TXT / HTML formats that would be a plus.

East Nashville & Antioch

locoindio — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:12:22 -0800

where are the nice parts of east nashville and antioch?

Show Me the Way

cloeburner — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:25:30 -0800

What are some ways to tell the direction [North, East, South, West] you are headed? And more generally, what are some cool nature tricks you've learned through the years? I know of ones such as looking at where the moss is growing or where the sun is relative to the time of day, but there must be tons of direcitonal tips that I do not know. It would be great to hear of them, even ones that only apply to certain localities.

Additionally, nature tricks would be great to know as I set out into the great expanse. I know neat things like making whistles out of acorn tops and other semi-useful miscellany, but the more you know the better!

Perhaps a zine could come of all this information.

East Bay Drum Sander Rental

zeoslap — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:54:32 -0800

Does anyone know of a place where I can get some time on a drum sander near Oakland, CA?

Bali Hai, or Hi Bali

kanemano — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:22:35 -0800

I have two months to prepare for a two month Surf/Adventure trip to Bali, what should I not forget to take and what should I absolutely not miss when I am there, within reason.

I Am Prodigy!

mordecai — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:44:29 -0800

I'm looking for gifted children or 'child prodigies' in Asia that I could possibly get in touch with and interview but it's proving to be a little tough locating these whiz kids. Anybody got any leads?

Need help finding cheap one-way flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong

oh_do_shutup — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:05:18 -0800

Cheap flights between Ho Chi Minh and Hong Kong, one-way only. Leaving around September 16th. Any recommendations? So far the cheapest found is £199 ($407) from expedia. Are there any other cheaper airlines?

Zurich to Tokyo: Help me plan my trip!

mrunderhill — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:28:07 -0800

Help me plan my trip! I want to leave Zurich in late October. Heading east, I would like to end up in Tokyo in January. I would like to travel by train or plane and keep costs well under $10,000. Where should I go? I think I'd like a rather versatile trip. Thanks!

Translate my t-shirt; Farsi? Arabic?

wolfsleepy — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:36:48 -0800

Great graphic on this t-shirt, but we've curious as to what it actually says (if anything). It looks like farsi to me, but I could be wrong. The t-shirt in question

Going to Beirut

pranalaxmi — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:54:04 -0800

I'm considering a stop in Beirut for a few days in late April on my way back from Syria to the US. Any recommendations on things to see or places not to miss? On that note, things to be particularly careful about right now? Unfortunately my stay is limited to about 3 days.

I want amba sauce.

Foam Pants — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 16:46:46 -0800

I am craving a recipe for amba sauce. I have been getting into making food from the Middle East. Saveur magazine recently had a little blurb on amba sauce and, considering my love of tangy-sweet and fenugreek, I think I would love it. I looked for it on the source it mentioned but couldn't find it and I hesitate to buy it as I have run into references that say the jarred stuff can be too salty. I looked for a recipe online but no go. Anybody know how to make it? Going to a grocery store is out of the question as I live in the boondocks. Any recommendations for a cookbook are welcome as well.

Things to do in Doha

oh pollo! — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:38:33 -0800

Things to do and see in Doha, Qatar? I'm spending next week in Doha. What should I see or do?

Identify this Middle Eastern song.

mykescipark — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 04:41:42 -0800

MidEastMusicFilter: Ethnomusicologists and Middle Eastern-music fans, can you identify this song? And, in any case, can you tell me more about the style of music to which it belongs?

Pop Song Analogies

ruwan — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:55:21 -0800

For a Friend: What are some songs about about people who used to see eye to eye, but now they hate each other and can't understand each other? Or about righteous people trying to smash down lower people? (For an essay about the history of the middle east... She's using modern pop songs as an analog (ideally bad pop songs, but all are fine). So any songs that can be seen as analogies for the Shiite/Sunni split, the Crusades, colonialism, globalization, etc. would be fantastic.) Thanks!