Center of Gravity
Milt and I are hunkered in the oleander bushes along the side yard of my house in Dhahran talking about how to blow up Soviet tanks in Budapest.
Stars Over Arabia
Beginning in August 1990 and lasting into January 1991, responding to a request from the Saudi government, US military units began arriving in the Kingdom in the massive military build-up known as Desert Shield. Tens of thousands of American soldiers and sailors and marines...
Cirque du Soleil Heads to Saudi in Special One-off Show
MONTREAL: Cirque du Soleil will stage a show in Saudi Arabia for the first time later this month, the high-flying acrobatic troupe announced Monday. The show will take place in the Saudi capital on Sept. 23 to coincide with the country's national day, public relations director Marie-Helene Lagace told AFP.
Close Call at Jabal Shamaal - Part 1
Smith is in the hospital. Despite half a summer spent in the sun, he's as pale as a Norwegian in winter. Beneath his sweaty brow and coke-bottle Buddy Holly glasses, an oxygen mask obscures the rest of his face. He's got double-pneumonia at least, the doctors are frightened that he might have a virulent variation of Valley Fever.
The Arabian: Equine Perfection Defined
The four signature fauna of Saudi Arabia are the dromedary, the falcon, the Saluki, and the Arabian horse—magnificent creatures all. And while substantial arguments could be proffered on each of the four’s behalf in support of their claim to be called Number One...
Ali Al-Baluchi: The Treasure of Friendship
A good friend is one of life’s greatest gifts, and Ali Baluchi—a member of the Aramco family for going on 70 years and today one of its pillars—is living proof of that. Ali is a treasure whose friendship enriches everyone privileged to know him.
Ode to Ali M. Al-Baluchi
If your path has crossed dear Ali's Then you will surely know When he wants to make "it" happen "It's" always good to go! He has a way of working That leaves you in no doubt His plans will clearly come to pass And find a gainful route!
Recognizing the Cowboy, Preserving a Legacy
The cowboy is an icon of American culture, every bit as much as is baseball or the log cabin or apple pie. Cowboys, indeed, are one of the first things people think of when an American traveling overseas tells someone they’re from America. “Oh, you must be a cowboy...
The Cowboy: America’s Greatest Icon
Richard W. Slatta is author of ten books, including Cowboys of the Americas, Cowboy: The Illustrated History, and The Mythical West. He has studied cowboy history and culture across the Americas for four decades and is currently in his last year as professor of history at...
Hats Off to the Ghutrah
“Clothes make the man,” is an oft-heard expression that’s provided the title to numerous short stories from various authors from different countries around the world over the years. Based on the cultural history of Arabia, perhaps that declarative sentence should be modified to read...
Wonder Reef
It was the summer of 1964. Smith and I were 17, working as apprentice divers for the freshly established Al Gossaibi Diving Services, the brain child of the legendary Dee McVey. Dee had been the lead diver and manager of undersea operations for all of Bechtel’s offshore projects since the mid-fifties.
Bee-Eaters and Hoop-Hoops: Arabia on the Wing
Saudi Arabia has four times as many species of birds per square mile of territory as does the United States. Whenever I point this out to a fellow American, they refuse to believe me. They simply can’t imagine that a desert country like the Kingdom could possibly match the USA...
Shaikh Amin's Encounters with Aramcons: A Photo Series - Photo 10
Shaikh Amin, retired chief photographer of Aramco, recently traveled to Lahore, Pakistan where he visited friends he has known since his Aramco days. In this photo, Shaikh Amin visits with Anwar and Mahara Kamal.
Salukis: A Gift from Allah
In May of this year, AXP published an article, “A Street Called Straight,” featuring Bert Seal and his amazing corpus of work dating from his years working as a photographer for Aramco. Bert snapped a treasure trove of priceless images documenting the history of the company, the country, and the people of Arabia.
Shaikh Amin's Encounters with Aramcons: A Photo Series - Photo 9
Shaikh Amin, retired chief photographer of Aramco, recently traveled to Lahore, Pakistan where he visited friends he has known since his Aramco days. In this photo, Shaikh Amin joins the family of the late Syed Yousaf Shah whose son, Engr. Naushad Yousaf Shah stands on the right.
Truck Art v. Kandy-Kolored Streamlined Babies
Nearly half a century ago—in its March/April 1969 edition, to be exact—Saudi Aramco World published an article titled “Gaily Go the Lorries.” The piece was written by Fuad Rayess, General Supervisor at the time of the Arabic Press and Publications Division of Aramco’s Public Relations Department.
Well Fire at Dammam #12
May 1st, 1939, Saudi Arabia shipped its first tanker load of crude oil to join the ranks of oil exporting nations. Aside from the initial discovery of oil at Dammam #7, this was the most historic moment in the company’s history. Nine weeks later, seventy five years ago today, disaster struck and changed the company forever.
Have You Ever Heard of Buckyballs?
Conversations with friends can be infinitely varied—filled with tangential remarks, thoughtful asides, and random non-sequiturs and often producing surprising results. Starting from Point A over here, they’ve been known to jump quickly to Point B over there, and thence move on...
Brighton and Hove & Bristol: Two Global #1s
Separate from its tempestuous politics, the U.K. has been getting a lot of positive attention of late for other, more upbeat reasons. Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past month, you’re likely already aware that the 2018 FIFA World Cup is underway in Russia.
A Man of Many Names
Story-telling comes in many forms, written and oral, prose and poetry, fact and fiction. There are fables like “The Tortoise and the Hare” and folktales like “The Pied Piper.” There are ghost stories like “Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad” and fairy tales like “Cinderella.”