Tag Archives: 1001 nights

That new moment

Yes, we have all experienced it. New moments, they are often a little weird, almost never a bad sign and in my ‘current’ state a nice welcome. It was given to me by Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2606650/saudi-arabia) and with the title ‘Mysterious pink glow lights up northwest Saudi skies’ we see a nice alteration after all these messages of collapsing economies with a touch of warfare on the left and right of the news columns. Still, a little doubt is also in my mind, for different reasons mind you.

I have been considering a few new loops in story telling and it had resulted in me seeing weirder dreams (seeing is a stretch as these dreams are followed up by almost immediately faded dreams and me yawning for an hour, like I went without sleep for a week). As such the pink glow was a nice liberation for my mind. 

The article gives me “This phenomenon could result from vapors of barium, strontium, and ionized oxygen released at high altitudes to study the upper layers of the atmosphere (the ionosphere).” The puzzlement lies within the setting of Barium, a soft, silvery-white metal, but it’s highly reactive and doesn’t exist freely in nature. Barium is found combined with other elements in various compounds. It is also used in medical imaging, specifically in barium swallow and barium enema procedures. The not freely in nature has me puzzled. I have had medical imaging before as such I was aware of its existence, but the fact that it doesn’t exist freely in nature sets the sphere that it was released over the air of Saudi Arabia has me puzzled. Then there is Strontium, with is found in earth’s crust (not high in the air) and is also produced artificially, including the radioactive isotope Strontium-90. Strontium is used in various applications, including fireworks, specialized glasses, and some medical treatments. As such the second version which gives us “This phenomenon could result from vapors of barium, strontium, and ionized oxygen released at high altitudes to study the upper layers of the atmosphere (the ionosphere).” I get that this might be a possibility, but why do this over the air of Saudi Arabia? The final version gives us “Abu Zahrah said that the spot also may have resulted from debris in the upper atmosphere, such as remnants of a rocket burn or satellite fragments, along with clouds of gases such as helium or hydrogen.” In this Majed Abu Zahrah, head of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, told SPA that a similar occurrence was recorded on May 13. This could be a true setting and the idea forms that there might be a case that starlink satellites might be colliding at this point (my very own speculative version) and that has the benefit of true as at present there are 7,600 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit, as such someones calculations were a little off and these things could be banging each other (not in an intimate way) and these collisions could be why pink sparks are flying. As such there is the thought that Starlink cut corners and these satellites are hitting each other as they might be lacking the maneuverability to ‘avoid’ one another. As such we see the realistic setting that this will happen more often and in that process as more satellites create additional debris, more will collisions would be the result of all that. It is the setting of 1,2,4,8,16 collisions over time. As they are in low orbit it might be a lot more like 1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3,3,4,4,4,4 collisions who start imitating the American Tali band, going boom, boom, boom, but with a declining starlink operating setting. Perhaps Starlink has that under control as these satellites are easily and not expensively replaced. I con’t know, but that is a version that could be entertained. It merely gives me (in light of the barium and strontium) revelation by Abu Zahrah, what more were these starlink satellites able to do? If there is an imaging prospect, what are these 7600 satellites able to see? And they are all over the planet, as such there is a lack of oversight, perhaps by America, but the others people might not have the right discretionary setting tone able to avoid the gaze, like the son of the neighbour who liked the idea of your oldest daughter or wife seeing the inside of your bathroom and he is getting a completely new education in biology. OK, I reckon that these satellites cannot do that, but the neighbors adolescent son and his creative use of a webcam should not be dismissed this easily. And I get that I have absolutely no idea what is involved with these satellites (I am no astrophysicist) and as such there could be an innocent reason for barium and strontium in any satellite. The idea that 2 events (optionally more) is throwing satellite ‘debris’ in the air (a very speculative thought) does imply that this could result in casualties. You see, at the altitude as little as 340 km, a simple pallet size thing like a screw will hit anyone like a high powered rifle. The human skull is not equipped to deal with such an impact and it merely takes one casualty to create a new fear in people. As such the idea was shaping in my mind. But then I could be wrong and there is an innocent reason for these two elements to be on such an altitude. An FBI agent named Fox Mulder stated that he believes there could be an innocent reason. Something about his sister being abducted by little green man. I remain skeptical on his version of the truth. 

But the Arab News article got my creative vibes flowing and for that I gain a little giggle. Just like the idea was given to me on that additional floor in the King Fahad National Library that contains a few very books that will never touch the eyes of people, including the missing pages of the One Thousand and One Nights, which had a few pages removed as they were never supposed to be seen by anyone. I have no idea how many pages were removed and as such I don’t know what is missing, but creativity goes into the dark dimensions no one can ever foresee and as such we were speculatively withheld creativity. And the best stories and lore ate usually the work of a creative mind. And mine has its moments as well. So what is the real reason of the pink glow? I have no idea, but the mind tends to be forever wandering and mine is no different. 

So have a great day and consider the pink elephants some might see, I believe a person named Walt Disney explained that away in his own unique way.

Have a great day today.

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Credit where credit is due

I was in a setting where I had to look at YouTube videos of the Hogwarts theme parks in Orlando and Tokyo. I saw a lot more than that. I also saw some Disney World places (for different reasons) and it struck me that there is a lot that is the same. I do not men Hogwarts, I meant that the Universal sites all work on the same premise. Now, this is to be expected, however the Disney places and the Universal places are a lot alike, more alike than unalike. 

This is not any kind of critique, it just is the way it is. Then we get the Abu Dhabi Warner Brothers world. Now they are all excellent in their own way and if you are a Harry Potter fan as I am, an uneasy feeling comes over me. Don’t get me wrong, these places, there is nothing wrong with them. As I said, they are too much alike. It seems that we are all pushed in the same box (painted in some colour). 

It then struck me that I might be too spoiled. I grew up in the Netherlands. As I can see it, there is nothing like The Efteling, besides the Efteling. Yes, it too has rides others have, but the setting of the Efteling, with a lot of Anton Pieck favoured styles is basically unique. In this places like UAE (Abu Dhabi) or Saudi Arabia (Riyadh or Dammam) might be in need of an Efteling styled theme park and it does not need to be a copy. The Efteling has a fairy tale forest and in Europe they strike a chord with these fairy tales. But a desert place where we can see the fairy tales like they exist in the Arabic nations would have a national and international appeal. There are “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor”, “The Enchanted Horse” and many more. I think that most Arabic Fairy tales come from the 1001 nights book, but I could be wrong there. You see the world needs more that a Universal setting. The Efteling has earned its place amongst the theme parks with the highest awards. In 2020 they had more visitors than Disney Paris. I believe that the fairy tale forest gave the people something they had forgotten. In this I blame Disney, they fed us what to like and didn’t inquire what people would like (the cost of the park and the waiting times at rides might have been a contributing factor). So as we turn to the UAE (or Saudi Arabia) for what to seek, the international market might like an original fairy tale forest with unique stories. Optionally stories from other places like Indonesia as well. In this I feel that an Efteling approach might give people another way to look at things. There is still enough space for places like Warner Brothers, Universal or Disney. Yet consider the aging IP, as such a new park can be done in the ‘trend’ of Efteling, but need not be a copy. 

There could be stories that would be present in both, no doubt about it.

There is the Gardener and the Fakir, I saw this on my first visit in the 60’s, it never lost its appeal to me, not ever when I saw it again in the late 90’s. Then there is ‘het spook slot’ (the haunted castle).

It is now either already demolished or it in the process on demolition, to make space for something new. That place had been around since 1978, I saw it in its first year which was my birthday present. The attraction had remained active for over 40 years, the show shown there which lasted about 7 minutes took an estimated 800 people per hour. And this was based on technology we had at that point. As far as I can see, unique experiences and there is more to be seen. But in reality, who has actually read the book 1001 nights? Wouldn’t it be great if someone had a different theme park based on Arabic lore? 

There are many ways to do this. I still believe that ride like pirates of the Caribbean with the boats, but they take you on a show though several fairy tales, narrated by Sheherezade. The ride would be about 15 minutes, taking you to the next stage which would be on foot showing you more fairy tales with rest rooms and snack sites, after that another boat ride of the same length and that is one side of the tracks. Then we could do more walking and see places like the Gardener and the Fakir and other places. The problem is a lot needs to be ‘in house’. These two places are just too warm in summer. In a previous article. I discussed part of this in Ratatouille (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/11/20/ratatouille/) I had some ideas based on droomvlucht (Dream Flight) but now set on a magic carpet like a real Aladdin. An expansion for the Warner Brothers park, but it could become its own place, with new attractions and a wholesome dive into Arabic fairy tales and It could be in Saudi Arabia for pretty much the same reason. You see, the lesson that places like Disney never learned was that there is something like saturation. ‘More’ at some point becomes ‘too much’ and infrastructures tend to collapse when we reach the ‘too much’ point. I cannot speculate here, it requires an econometrist with serious skills to make a better estimate. I perceive it to be a setting of balance. If the theme park is in the left hand, you need something another kind of fun in the right hand, so that balance can be reached. What that is? Not sure, but I imagine that Abu Dhabi with its waterpark, zoo and Warner Brothers has a seemingly good grasp of this balance. So is that the right place for this new park? I cannot tell, but it seems so sad that they are all copying Disney and Universal and the idea of another Efteling with its own unique features and a dozen global awards is largely ignored and thy aren’t just any awards. They won in 1972 the Pomme d’Or and in 2018 the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) award. Disney lost out on both that is one hell of an achievement. Especially as the Efteling has nowhere near the cash Disney has. 

But that is merely my point of view in this matter, enjoy the day, Monday is a mere 3 hours away for me.

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