Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai

PD Photo: Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, photo by Ivan Dubya, taken on December 20, 2007.

PD Photo: Burj Al Arab seen at a distance from a tower room of Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort and Spa, Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, photo by Christopher T Cooper taken on 21 September 2009.

Burj Al Arab, a super-luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is an unusual and unique hotel as it is constructed on an artificial island at a distance of 280 meters (920 feet) from the Jumeirah beach, and it is structured in the shape of the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. The manmade island is connected to the mainland by a private bridge.

One of the most photographed buildings in the world, and soaring to a height of 321 meters, the Burj Al Arab is currently the world's second tallest hotel (the building is exclusively used as a hotel), the tallest such hotel being Dubai’s Rose Tower (333 m/ 1,092 feet). It will be the fourth tallest hotel in the world, when Emirates Park Tower 1 (376 m/ 1,234 ft) and Emirates Park Tower 2 (376 m/ 1,234 ft), both in Dubai, are opened (scheduled for 2010 opening).

Sleeping Venus by Giorgione on Ajman airmail stamp

This is a scan of the 1- Riyal AIRMAIL postage stamp of ‘AJMAN STATE AND ITS DEPENDENCIES’, on which the famous painting, Venus Dormida: Sleeping Venus’ by Giorgione (CLICK TO VIEW the original painting’s picture) is printed. It seems to be one of the commemorative stamps issued by AJMAN STATE to celebrate art by Western painters, with some of the best paintings included in the set of 16 stamps. Ajman is one of the seven emirates constituting the United Arab Emirates (UAE). CLICK TO VIEW THE FULL SET of similar stamps.

The Sleeping Venus, also known as the Dresden Venus, one of the last works by Giorgione, was incomplete at the time of Giorgione's death, and the landscape and sky were painted by Titian in 1510 to complete the work, which is currently in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Germany.

Danae on postage stamp of Ajman, UAE

Danae by Rembrandt van Rijn, was included on a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by Ajman, one of the Emirates of United Arab Emirates (UAE). The scan of the set of 14 such stamps can be found in this blog - CLICK HERE to view.

Ajman postage stamps with Western nude paintings

The scanned image of a set of one-Riyal Airmail postage stamps issued by Ajman State with the printing AJMAN STATE AND ITS DEPENDENCIES seems to be of an era before Ajman joined the present day United Arab Emirates (UAE). On 2 December 1971, Ajman joined the United Arab Emirates, and Ajman is now one of the seven emirates constituting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the others being Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. Interestingly the stamp seems to be a commemorative issue to celebrate nudes in art by Western painters, with some of the best nudes paintings included in the set of 16 stamps, out of which two stamps are removed, and shows 14 stamps in the set. CLICK on the above image to enlarge and view the individual stamps.

UAE Air Force F-16E Fighter Plane

A United Arab Emirates Air Force F-16E Block 60 takes off after taxiing out of the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to NAS Fort Worth JRB. (Date: February 28, 2007; Author: David Raykovitz.)

The single-seat F-16E and twin-seat F-16F are the latest versions of the F-16. They do not exist in the US Air Force inventory, but they are an export version. The F-16E/F now belongs to a special version developed especially for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force and, hence, they are sometimes unofficially called the Desert Falcon.