Dr K.R. Sreenivasan on our shuddering sun

Dr K.R. Sreenivasan of the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering today presented on solar turbulence and helioseismology in the fascinating NYU Abu Dhabi public talk "Tempest in the Sun". I got in quite late because of crash traffic along the way, but I arrived by the time he started talking about deep convection and Erika Böhm-Vitense's mixed length theory. He then explained his work on using observations of ripples bouncing around the solar mass to peer into the sun's internal dynamics, and how differences in the expecting timing of waves indicate the underlying flow rate in the photo-opaque, but acoustically resonant sun.

Acoustic afternoon with Fresh Sounds on The Grass

Scattered clouds and mild sunny weather gave Freshly Ground Sounds' Fresh Sounds on the Grass event the perfect atmosphere for a lazy afternoon of live, local, acoustic music.

Sara Aridi; MoFloh & JJ

Nadine; Steven John Bond and Izzy Abidi

Physical Graffiti; Peter Martin

We got to listen to several of the city's musicians playing and singing across a variety of acoustic music styles. The lineup was not exactly as on the poster, but it was a good show from all performers nonetheless.

Anant

The closing open mic call was answered by Anant's impromptu performance, winning all over with his peppy rendition of "Sexy and I Know It", and ending the event on an especially cheerful note.

While attending the event, I also happened upon the unexpectedly massive Dubai Flea Market nearby. I had never been to one of these before, and it was a nice trip down memory lane to see 90s laptops, modems and other antiquated items being hawked.

Freshly-baked pumpkin pie, and home concert in Dubai

I finally got around to hosting an event for our Home Concerts meetup, and what a party it was! My apartment was filled with nearly twice as many people as I have ever hosted at the same time, who I was able to accommodate only through creative furniture-moving. We had a bunch of guitarists, a couple of keyboard/piano players, and a conversation-stopping cellist (who, by the way, will be among the local musicians playing at The Courtyard Playhouse during the 4B street arts night later this month). And, of course, many fellow listeners to chip in, chime in and applaud the talent and guts of those who played and/or sang in my makeshift Xmas-light-delineated stage corner.

To sweeten the deal, I baked a belated seasonal treat: pumpkin pie. A very simple one too. I prepared a quick crust by mixing 240g cooled melted butter with two tablespoons each of vegetable oil and sugar and a half teaspoon of salt, then folding in 340g flour to make the dough.

After pressing the dough evenly into the baking tin (I used a large tart tin; the recipe quantities should be halved if using a regular pie tin) and chilling it for half an hour, I poured in the filling, which was comprised of a mixture of 850g canned pumpkin purée, 850g canned sweetened condensed milk, 4 eggs, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon of ground cloves, and a teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and salt.

Baking it at 180C for about an hour, I let it cool before serving. Unfortunately, the whipped cream slipped my mind, though, yes, I would strongly recommend having it on hand. The pie was summarily annihilated nonetheless, and it was a pleasure seeing everyone enjoy it.

Izzy Abidi and Physical Graffiti at Roseleaf Cafe Acoustic Saturdays

My late discovery of the week: there seems to be a weekly acoustic evening going on every Saturday at 4pm in Dubai Garden Centre. The one I attended was a double feature, with solo singer-songwriter and guitarist "Izzy" Abidi alternating short sets with folk acoustic band Physical Graffiti, whom I also heard recently at an open mic. It's not a long event, running a little over an hour, and thus fitting nicely between Saturday's afternoon and evening plans. And it was a rather enjoyable hour, including restyled covers of pop hits like "Royals" and "Poker Face" (by Abidi) and "Somebody That I Used To Know" (by Physical Graffiti), some originals, and a valiant improvisation attempt by Physical Graffiti. The Roseleaf Cafe, at which the event takes place, is also good for coffee and light edibles.

Jay Wud acoustic night at Blue Bar

Touring Dubai-based rock musician Jay Wud hit up the Blue Bar at Novotel WTC for a special unplugged night, a couple of months shy of the first anniversary of False Utopia.

Jay Wud, who also strums for Saturday night local supergroup Abri and The Funk Radius, played some very enthusiastically-received covers and band originals, supported by fellow guitarist Bojan L Preradovic of Empty Yard Experiment. Attendance for the two-set show was quite thick for a school night; I only managed to find a seat at the periphery of visibility.

Followup to Benny Lava

I love this about Web 2.0 ... you can parody the parody itself

The Original

The Chinese Benny Lava

And the Acoustic Benny Lava

And one of umpteen amateur dance videos

This is the true greatness of the web ... without it, people from many other continents and cultures would not have known of the greatness of Benny Lava, and we would definitely have not seen the application of their creativity to the same.