A MESSAGE FROM LUZ AZUL, BRAND AMBASSADOR OF MARCOART I am Founder and CEO of Azul Enterprises, one of Dubai's largest and least known Real Estate and Construction Firms and have been involved in one capacity or another in many of the vaunted building projects. Some years ago, while surfing the internet I was re-introduced to my lifelong childhood friend and online video game character Ollie the Octopus and through him his imaginary friend Pookaberry the Alien Baby. Ollie, who despite rumors to the contrary, is notoriously publicity shy, approached me to act as Brand Ambassador for Marcoart. Although I had known Ollie for years, up until that point I had no idea of his artistic talent, when I mentioned this to him, he blushed four shades of red, wiggled his tentacles and said that he'd created Marco as his pseudynm to act as a buffer between himself, his work and the public, who can be so brutal and callous to the fragile temperament of the creative genius. Hearing this, I leapt into the breach, eager to help a childhood friend and feed my unquenchable appetite to support the arts. Ollie draws his inspiration from uncharted galaxies of his own mind and of the universe, through which he sails accompanied by his imaginary friend Pookaberry the Alien Baby in a psychoactive starship of his own creation. The style in which he distills the crystalline infinitude of imagination is a mélange of ancient glyphs, tribal figures, and esoteric symbols, foisted on modernity. Please enjoy all that Marcoart has to offer and if you're ever in Dubai, mention Luz Azul at the concierge and you will receive a twenty percent discount on any smoking room with a desert view at the Raj Dab Bajoor the first 200 story full service hotel, casino, and camel marina in the middle of the Rub' al Khali one of the largest sand deserts in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. Rougly the size of Texas with Sand dunes taller than the eifel tower, the Rub' al Khali is a beachcomber's paradise! A few Timeshares are still left-dial 1-800-RAJ DAB and don't forget to dial an extra B at the end for Bajoor! LUZ AZUL BIO My father was a fisherman on the island of Pico one of a central group of islands in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km (950 mi) from Lisbon and about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) from the east coast of North America. Many believe the Azores, Madeira, and other islands, which are located atop an active triple junction between three large tectonic plates: the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate are remnants of Atlantis. When I was growing up I was told stories of how the Atlantens would crawl out of the Ponta de Pico, a stratovolcano and the highest point in Portugal. They'd roam through the town, taking pictures, eating at local restaurants, and staying in the many upscale hotels on the Archipelago before swimming off and disappearing in black coral maze of the Formigas or Dollabarat Reefs where they'd ride Manta Rays and sea turtles over the lip of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. My Father plied these waters with a reckless abandon to feed his family. He dressed very uniquely, even for a fisherman in the Azores, this was a much do to his own personal sense of style- he's a huge Hank Williams fan- as it was to my mother's imaginative, practical sewing skills, my sister, never one to miss an opportunity, created a market for the clothes and the Mad Fisherman of Pico look, a global clothing trend which peaked in the mid 80's was born. Freed from fishing for his finances, my Father retired and is now one of the most successful Viticulturists in the Azores, operating Criação Velha Cellars a vineyard and winery in the district of Madalena, his clothing line is available in the gift shop, and occasionally on E Bay. My Favorite memories though, are that of fishing with my father in his skiff, we'd stay out for hours, sometimes even days at time. It was on one such excursion when I was no more than 5 years old that, after having a hearty lunch of stewed Psilocybin sausages, the boat drifted into uncharted waters and I fell overboard into the clear blue light of the water. I can remember looking up though the water at my father, he was smiling, this reassured me and I let myself sink all the way down to the sandy bottom where I came to a rest. The sand was so comfortable that I soon fell fast asleep. I remember being awoken by an Octopus who asked me what my name was, I said it was Luz, he said Luz what? I said Azul. The Octopus smiled and said you'd better come with me Luz Azul, those sharks look hungry. I looked over and saw a group of sharks heading in our direction, Ollie looked at the leader of the sharks and said easy Cyril, this is my friend Luz Azul who's come to visit me from above the ocean, Cyril smiled with all his teeth and said excuse me Ollie, I must have mistaken him for lunch and swam off. I spent a week down there with Ollie, he took me over to his home in Coral Sands on the Abysmal Plain, and introduced to most of his friends, I didn't get a chance to meet Pookaberry, his imaginary friend because he hadn't invented him yet, and returned me to the fishing village on the island of Pico without a scratch. Everyone had given me up for dead, my family was ecstatic, and my father looked like he'd been brought back from the grave, having blamed himself for my untimely death. As I continued to grow up I bumped into Ollie less frequently but I never forgot our first encounter, an experience which instilled me with an insatiable lustful appreciation of life that permeates everything I do and see. It was then with understandably transcendental pleasure that I became re-acquainted with my old friend and hero Ollie who awed me to my core when he offered me the opportunity to be Brand Ambassador for his creations which he so cleverly labels under the moniker of Marcoart. In Love and Friendship, Luz Azul