Blogosphere: March 10, 2009

Like all good columns, it always helps to have a celebrity endorsement or two. Movie and television, erm, egend David Hasselhoff is currently spending some time in Dubai, and felt so moved that he had to blog about it.

So, to mark this momentous occasion, this week's blogosphere will not look into events in cyberspace. No, this week we'll be looking at what's happening in Hoffspace (yes, that is what he calls it). The Hoff, as he is affectionately known around the world, waxed on lyrically about Dubai in his video blog, spending quite a bit of time at Ski Dubai.

This is The Hoff unedited: "Dubai is a fun place; it's a little bit like the Las Vegas of the Middle East because there's always something fun to do!

"The Mall of the Emirates is huge as you can see and filled with some of the best shopping in the world, but the best part of the mall is Ski Dubai; an indoor ski slope!!!! We had such a great time here and the skiing was really good! Check it out if you're ever in Dubai. It's awesome!"

Proving his true global star status. Hasselhoff (who seemed to film the whole blog in the Mall of The Emirates) is also doing his bit to promote global understanding and tolerance. By that I mean he ran into a group of women from Saudi Arabia while in the mall (archive 116), and was also moved to blog about this experience.

He wrote: "We met these ladies from Saudi Arabia in Dubai (they'd come for the shopping) and it was very strange to me to see them so covered up!

"While I was in the Middle East though I learned that the reason they are covered is because Muslim women... [are asked] to be modest and that's how they interpret it in Saudi Arabia. I love to learn about other cultures because I think it helps promote peace and understanding."

Seems like Obama may have missed a trick when he appointed his team of people to push for Middle East peace. Senator George Mitchell, or the bloke from Knight Rider and Baywatch?

One was responsible for the Northern Ireland peace agreement, the other for the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's a tough call.

But it wasn't all shopping and chatting on Hasselhoff's visit to Dubai. The Hoff also managed to find some time to fit in a trip to Dubai Studio City as well as to tour around the MBC studios. He got to impart some wisdom on his area of expertise - movies.

During his visit to the UAE, the megastar also found the time to visit the Burj Al Arab ("My hotel was much more fun, with really friendly staff, and the Wild Wadi Water Park.") and stop in at the Emirates Palace Hotel ("The Emirates hotel is huge [just the building is over half a mile long!] and wow is it impressive. It's also quite beautiful.").

But it was his trip to the impressive Shaikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi that seemed to leave the biggest impression on our David.

"Most mosques in Abu Dhabi are closed to non-Muslims, but this one has been opened to everyone to promote religious tolerance, which is a great thing. I was so humbled to visit this mosque because, firstly, it was a beautiful building and an awesome sight. Secondly, it was a wonderful opportunity to see a mosque. I had never done that before and I learned so much from the experience.

"Despite the crowds, it was a very holy place and it is so much better to learn about other cultures than simply to exist in a world of blind prejudice and ignorance."

Hear hear. All hail The Hoff. Come back soon.

To check out The Hoff in his full glory, visit hasselhoff.com/blog.

wenn