Just saying Hi...

Hi kzm, welcoome to the forum!

Love the pic, although my favorite McQueen movie was the ensemble cast, "The Great Escape" (which in weird ways reminds me of my compound here in Saudi).

McQueen Rocks!

Hey kzm, fellow taurean - welcome - Cool Hand Luke, Bullit .... love em all - good to see you here.

Cool Hand Luke was Paul Newman--but love him, too!

Hi kzm40,

Welcome to Riyadh and to the blog.

Enjoy.

Thank you all, for the welcome..

And thanks for the pic comment allicat, my favourite is the Thomas Crown Affair, followed by Bullit and Le-Mans.

(in the uk the great escape is shown every christmas at prime time, so I've probably O/D on that one.)

Hi,
Welcome to the forum! How are you finding it out here?

KZM40 and LostVegas

Welcome to the Forum and to Riyadh (LV).  We hope that you will enjoy your stay with us here in the Kingdom and join in the fun on the forum every chance you can.  Its certainly a wild and crazy :lol:bunch!

Alliecat wrote:

Cool Hand Luke was Paul Newman--but love him, too!

doh!  nicely corrected, I find it difficult separating them two sometimes coz the same era of films and all brill!

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

Cool Hand Luke was Paul Newman--but love him, too!

doh!  nicely corrected, I find it difficult separating them two sometimes coz the same era of films and all brill!

So true, there was a generation of brilliant (and gorgeoous!) actors in that era.

kzm40 wrote:

(in the uk the great escape is shown every christmas at prime time, so I've probably O/D on that one.)

Aw come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.. who can ever tire of the great motorcycle chase????? 

Alliecat wrote:

kzm40 wrote:

(in the uk the great escape is shown every christmas at prime time, so I've probably O/D on that one.)

Aw come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.. who can ever tire of the great motorcycle chase????? 

True, love the motorcycle chase, love motorcycles.. (but not here)

Alliecat wrote:

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

Cool Hand Luke was Paul Newman--but love him, too!

doh!  nicely corrected, I find it difficult separating them two sometimes coz the same era of films and all brill!

So true, there was a generation of brilliant (and gorgeoous!) actors in that era.

If I had to choose between McQueen and Newman I'd probably say that McQueen has the edge, The Great Escape was fab (goes without saying!), the Magnificent Seven , and Papillon is one I can watch endlessly and experience more every time! Although kudos to Paul Newman for The Road to Perdition, he made that film for me

zara777 wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

doh!  nicely corrected, I find it difficult separating them two sometimes coz the same era of films and all brill!

So true, there was a generation of brilliant (and gorgeoous!) actors in that era.

If I had to choose between McQueen and Newman I'd probably say that McQueen has the edge, The Great Escape was fab (goes without saying!), the Magnificent Seven , and Papillon is one I can watch endlessly and experience more every time! Although kudos to Paul Newman for The Road to Perdition, he made that film for me

Newman and McQueen were actually going to do butch cassidy and the sundance kid together, unfortunatly their lawyers couldn't agree on how to give equal billing..

Which gave Redford his big break.

zara777 wrote:

Hi,
Welcome to the forum! How are you finding it out here?

thk u..Quite.. have to have lots of holidays or I think I'd go crazy...

kzm40 wrote:

zara777 wrote:

Hi,
Welcome to the forum! How are you finding it out here?

thk u..Quite.. have to have lots of holidays or I think I'd go crazy...

We've been told to plan a trip away every few months, I moved from the UK 2 months ago and just got back from Dubai with a trip to Bahrain planned for November. Compounds are great too but it takes time to get to know people...

Robert Redford... I've never quite seen the attraction myself but he's had his moments!

kzm40 wrote:

have to have lots of holidays or I think I'd go crazy...

True, but by the time you have all those those holidays, you've just spent the money you saved by working here!   (It's a vicious cycle!)

kzm40 wrote:

zara777 wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

So true, there was a generation of brilliant (and gorgeoous!) actors in that era.

If I had to choose between McQueen and Newman I'd probably say that McQueen has the edge, The Great Escape was fab (goes without saying!), the Magnificent Seven , and Papillon is one I can watch endlessly and experience more every time! Although kudos to Paul Newman for The Road to Perdition, he made that film for me

Newman and McQueen were actually going to do butch cassidy and the sundance kid together, unfortunatly their lawyers couldn't agree on how to give equal billing..

Which gave Redford his big break.

I can't remember, did they actually end up doing a film together?

Alliecat wrote:

kzm40 wrote:

have to have lots of holidays or I think I'd go crazy...

True, but by the time you have all those those holidays, you've just spent the money you saved by working here!   (It's a vicious cycle!)

@Alliecat - too true, I have been back and forth since March initially because I was working out my notice in the UK but since July we have been off on various bouts of leave and visa renewals etc.  Yes, it gets very expensive but also makes settling into Riyadh very difficult as you just start to get into things and then off you go again.  Coming back, you end up almost starting all over again.  I have found that the most unsettling thing and nearly got myself into a real rut about it; only just coming through it now!  Also, saving money should not be under-rated; have already witnessed people being let go suddenly and they are panicking now because they got caught in the 'live the high life' trap and didn't save enough for a rainy day!

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

@Alliecat - too true, I have been back and forth since March initially because I was working out my notice in the UK but since July we have been off on various bouts of leave and visa renewals etc.  Yes, it gets very expensive but also makes settling into Riyadh very difficult as you just start to get into things and then off you go again.  Coming back, you end up almost starting all over again.  I have found that the most unsettling thing and nearly got myself into a real rut about it; only just coming through it now!  Also, saving money should not be under-rated; have already witnessed people being let go suddenly and they are panicking now because they got caught in the 'live the high life' trap and didn't save enough for a rainy day!

You make excellent points.  I know people who go away for 5-6 weeks at a time on annual leave and I know I could never do that because in that length of time, I'd have settled into a 'new' life back home and probably wouldn't return to Saudia!!

And so right about the 'being let go suddenly' scenario.  We've just witnessed it here on forum with Ginny and Bill. I see it happening where I work with greater frequency so must always be prepared.

Alliecat wrote:

kzm40 wrote:

have to have lots of holidays or I think I'd go crazy...

True, but by the time you have all those those holidays, you've just spent the money you saved by working here!   (It's a vicious cycle!)

Yes, it's a true catch 22...But I guess one just needs to factor it in as part of the cost of being here, I certainly couldn't do one long holiday which some of my colleagues do.

(And they don't have to be expensive holidays)

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

kzm40 wrote:

zara777 wrote:

If I had to choose between McQueen and Newman I'd probably say that McQueen has the edge, The Great Escape was fab (goes without saying!), the Magnificent Seven , and Papillon is one I can watch endlessly and experience more every time! Although kudos to Paul Newman for The Road to Perdition, he made that film for me

Newman and McQueen were actually going to do butch cassidy and the sundance kid together, unfortunatly their lawyers couldn't agree on how to give equal billing..

Which gave Redford his big break.

I can't remember, did they actually end up doing a film together?

Yes indeed 'The Towering Inferno', tha same arguements over top billing thou apparently. (between the lawyers)..

Well that's a real shame - would have been great seeing them two together more.  At that quality and charism there is no such thing as one person having top billing - they were both fantastic!  Don't get too many like them anymore ....