Mac Moments

Summer in Doha is not for sissies, with temperatures hitting a cool  53 o  C  this weekend it is certainly time to stay out of the sun.  If however, you are going into the sun make sure you have a very high sun protection on. For those of us that prefer to keep indoors, you have to start questioning what exactly there is to do in Qatar with the temps so high?  Considering Villagio and City Center are both closed with rumors of Landmark and other shopping malls following suite, trawling malls, watching movies, going ice-skating and to the indoor entertainment centers looks pretty dismal. Although, honestly we very rarely (if ever) take the children to any of these as they are always over crowded and unpleasant. With all this in mind, I went on a search to see what we could do for the three weeks that we will be here for and this is what I found. Firstly, we love sport and in July we will definitely be watching the finals of the Euro 2012, while  Wimbledo...

I was certainly not ready for Father's Day this year. I thought it was on the 20th, which does not make sense, I promise I saw it written somewhere! By the time I realized that it was upon us already, City Center and Villagio were now shut down (due to the awful Fire tragedy) and Landmark was just a nightmare between parking and shoppers. I did not make it to buying anything, until the day of, knowing I could get in before the masses arrived.... With a bit of prompting the kids made cards, while in the morning I dashed downstairs and made Steve a cooked breakfast - he was surprised and loved the gesture, thank goodness. Dinner was a similar affair, with a beautifully laid table, fabulous food, dessert and company. It is the first year I feel like a really awful Mother/Wife for being so slack!! Father's Day is also Steve's Dads Birthday. It is a day of remembrance and reflection for him.  It is a day of mixed emotions.  It is now the first Father's Day that my Dad...

I just loved this so had to share :) Patient research work involving more than 5 thousand photographs resulted in a 1 minute film that AlmapBBDO created to advertise Getty Images, the world leading image database for creating and distributing visual contents. The film is surprising when showing 873 images in 15 images per second, sufficient speed to transform the series into a video that, without any text, tells a beautiful story. All photos, without any exceptions, are from the Getty Images archives. Enjoy!! Copywriter Sophie Schoenburg and art director Marcos Kotlhar worked 6 months researching images, improving the script and building each scene so they would not only be understood, but would also touch viewers. Sometimes, for example, a scene would look perfect on paper, but the images chosen to depict it were not sufficient or did not perfectly match up to offer the right movement and sense. And hence the research had to be restarted. The film was directed by Cisma, via P...

There will always be the little things that will be reminders and memories can never be forgotten. I left Doha in early May to go home to be with my Mom, I knew that I was not going to return until I had said my final goodbye. I thought I had a good 6 weeks of quality time. We had already been given almost an extra two years with Mom and we were all grateful. Christmas had been spent with family, with lots of laughs and many lasts. The last time to sit on Father Christmases lap, the last Christmas presents and dinner, the last New Year, the last family portrait, we were all aware of what was coming in the next few months. Mom had been given six months tops by the doctors by that stage. I cannot express how devastating that kind of news can be to the person receiving it, especially when you are not ready to leave this world and Mom was not ready to go, not yet. She shed a few tears at the doctors rooms, then put on a brave face for us all. Mom fought a valiant fight, she very rare...