THE DUBAI WORLD EXPO OPENED TODAY

 A few items of the day:

• While South Korea and Japan were far behind the U.S. in vaccinations at the beginning, they have both now passed us in shots/person.
• Only 36% of parents support vaccinating their children.  It was 26% in July.
• 
  Daniel Craig has been James Bond longer than anyone else.  His final appearance as 007 will be No Time to Die, (Rotten Tomatoes:82/), the 25th movie of the series, to be released next week.
• At 2 hours 43 minutes, the longest Bond film ever.
• Cary Joji Fukunaga is the first American director.

• 
  Rami Malek (of Bohemian Rhapsody fame) is the villain
• Craig will reprise his role in the sequel to Knives Out.
• The next Bond?  Idris Elba, Lashana Lynch (black and female, who is in NTtD) and Tom Hardy.

I remember well my very first Bond flick, the 1963 Dr. No.  Can you believe that was almost 60 years ago?  The reviewers hated it.  I wondered why, because I thought it was fabulous. Much later came Rotten Tomatoes, and their reviewers gave it 95/82 scores.  Here is one rating that lists this film as the fifth best of the franchise.  This was the Sean Connery version.  Jack Lord was in it as a CIA partner.  Ursula Andress was Honey Rider, but both her acting and singing voices were dubbed by others.

Finally, a year late, the Dubai World Expo opened today:

• Eight years of planning and $8 billion of spending.
• First World's Fair in the Middle East.

• Eight years of planning and $8 billion of spending.
• First World's Fair in the Middle East.

• Will run until March 31, 2022.
• 1083 acres.  New York's Central park is 843 acres.
• To enter, you will need to show a negative PCR test or proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
• One day ticket costs $27.43

• 
  Getting to Dubai Expo 2021 is easy, convenient and mostly free.  Find a hotel close to the RTA Metro and hop on the Expo Rider on the Red Line.
• Also buses, trams, rent-a-bike or rent-a-scooter.  The bike costs $5/day.
• You can also catch a cab or rent a Tesla.  If my conversion has any accuracy I think renting a Tesla might cost $5.  But for how long???  Something sounds wrong here.

• 
  There is something called the nol Card that can be used for everything.  A Gold Card, which gives you access to the gold class cabin on the metro and tram, costs around $6.
• Don't depend on what I said. Go to this site for details.

• 
  Hopes to attract 25 million.  Considering the pandemic and location, this had to be modest.  Shanghai in 2010 drew 73 million and Osaka in 1970 had 64 million.  Way back in 1900, Paris entertained 51 million visitors.  I've been to just about every one since my first, Seattle in 1962.

• 
  190 nations have pavilions:
• The U.S. had difficulty coming up with funding, so ours was paid for by the UAE, and will be replica of the Space X Falcon 9 rocket, plus multimedia informercials for American inventions.  Say this wasn't so.  So embarrassing.  Displayed will be the Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson as an example of religious freedom in the country.  
• 
  The U.S.'s first world's fair in 1876 introduced Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, a typewriter and Heinz Ketchup. 
• Our 1939 New York Expo showed the first television set.  That was a home movie of 19 minutes.  In color.   See what people wore in those days.
• Watch the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.  Remember Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis?  Wow, Rotten Tomatoes scores of 100/87.

• 
  China's will probably be the second largest and will feature space and future inventions, including a transformer-like car by SAIC Motor to function as a submarine and helicopter.

• 
  Italy's will have a rope made from 2 million plastic bottles and a 3-D replica of 17-foot tall David by Michelangelo.  Nudity is forbidden in the UAE, so David's member can only be seen if you lean into a portion of the exhibit where an alarm sounds.

• 
  Of course the largest will be UAE's falcon-shaped pavilion, which will be a two-hour-long immersive experience through the country's 50-year history.

• 
  The heart of EXPO Dubai will be Al Wasl Plaza, the largest 360-degree laser projection surface.  Uses 252 lasers, and show can be seen from the inside and outside.  800 engineers and technicians took 14 months to plan and build this Expo jewel.

• 
  The next World Expo is Osaka in 2025, although there will be the 2023 specialized expo in Buenos Aires.  New Orleans hosted the last U.S. expo in 1984.
• A decade ago, in one of my Huffington Post articles, I proposed the Sustainable Expo of 2020 for Hawaii.
• While that went nowhere, what about the World Ocean Expo for 2050 on a floating city off Oahu?

Just another World Expo scene:

Tomorrow, as our global cruise on the Island Princess was cancelled by the company, a new around the world fantasy to include the Dubai World Expo, this one featuring perhaps two Crystal and one Cunard cruises, plus use of a business class Star Alliance around the world fare.  Now, some of our more affluent friends might feel comfortable in this ultra-luxurious option.  Maybe because the length is only three, instead of four, months, this newest opportunity has a cost not much more than the first.

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