Community

P7
P20
Community
Cloudy with
a Chance of
Meatballs and
Ponyo will be screened
throughout the length of the
festival at the Qanat Quartier
Beach pop-up at The Pearl.
Community
Tuesday
Ladies Group
recently
gathered at the
Radisson Blu to
celebrate their 40th
anniversary in Qatar.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Jumada II 16, 1437 AH
DOHA
COVER
STORY
18°C—28°C TODAY
PUZZLES 14 & 15
LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE 16
Intel for him
The President’s Book of
Secrets goes behind the
scenes of CIA briefings. P2-3
US President Barack Obama receives the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) electronically, the first to do so.
2
GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
Who responded
how to the brief
PRAYER TIME
Fajr
Shorooq (sunrise)
Zuhr (noon)
Asr (afternoon)
Maghreb (sunset)
Isha (night)
4.17am
5.33am
11.40am
3.07pm
5.49pm
7.19pm
The President’s Book of Secrets offers a previously untold
story about one of those closely guarded, “eyes-only”
facets of the intelligence world, writes Michael K Bohn
USEFUL NUMBERS
Emergency
999
Worldwide Emergency Number
112
Kahramaa – Electricity and Water
991
Ooredoo Telephone Assistance
111
Local Directory
180
International Calls Enquires
150
Time
141, 140
Doha International Airport
40106666
Labor Department
44508111, 44406537
Medical Commission
44679111
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44588888
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44496000
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44033333
ote Unquote
u
QHow wonderful
it is that nobody need
wait a single moment before
starting to improve the world.
— Anne Frank
Community Editor
Kamran Rehmat
e-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 44466405
Fax: 44350474
O
n August 6, 2001, the third
day of his August vacation
in Texas, President George
W Bush welcomed two
visitors into the living room
of his ranch house.
Steve Biegun, the executive secretary
of the National Security Council, was
filling in for National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice. Michael Morell was
a CIA analyst assigned to brief Bush
daily on intelligence developments. He
handed Bush the President’s Daily Brief,
the most highly classified document
produced in the US government.
The president paused when he
reached an article titled Bin Laden
Determined to Strike in US. Morell gave
him background on the piece, Bush read
it, and they moved to the next page.
“I did not treat it as a ‘hair on fire’ or
action-forcing piece,” Morell wrote in
2015, “and the president did not read it
that way either.”
The article was the 36th in 2001’s
PDBs about either the terrorist or Al-
Qaeda. From August 31 to September
10, the PDB made no mention of
impending terrorist attacks on
America soil. Nor did Morell provide
any warning when he briefed Bush in
Sarasota, Florida, on the morning of
September 11.
This is just one anecdote explored
in former CIA analyst and PDB briefer
David Priess’ The President’s Book of
Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence
Briefings to America’s Presidents
from Kennedy to Obama, a new book
about intelligence support to modern
presidents. The heart of the book is the
history of the PDB, which debuted in
1964. Priess has help from reflections
from all living former presidents, vice
presidents, secretaries of state and
defence, 11 former national security
advisors, nearly all former CIA directors
and dozens of White House and CIA
staffers.
Priess offers an objective narrative,
not including any of his own
experiences to help maintain a balanced
perspective. He treats predictive failures
by the PDB — such as the pre-9/11
reports — the same as the successes.
This helps the reader understand that
the PDB is one of the few constants in a
city driven by change, usually every four
or eight years. And that has helped the
PDB offer far more correct predictions
and valuable assessments than tragic
failures.
The newly created CIA began sending
a Daily Summary to President Harry
Truman in 1947 and converted it to the
Current Intelligence Bulletin in 1951.
President Dwight Eisenhower read
a similar daily product, the Central
Intelligence Bulletin, which featured a
section in 1958 labelled “Daily Brief.” But
the election of president John F Kennedy
in 1960 forced considerable changes to
CIA’s routine.
The 1961 Bay of Pigs disaster forced
Kennedy to revamp how intelligence and
diplomatic developments reached the
White House. He created the Situation
Room to ensure State Department,
Pentagon and intelligence reports
reached the West Wing in a timely
fashion.
CIA responded to Kennedy’s
voracious appetite for information,
especially written — he could read much
faster than aides could talk — with a new
product: The President’s Intelligence
Checklist, or PICL. Insiders called it
the “pickle.” Kennedy read it at various
times of the day and valued the short,
punchy text.
President Lyndon B Johnson was
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
3
COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
Clinton fell for a
couple of bogus
PDB editions on
April Fools’ Day,
and had a good
laugh. “They tried
to convince me
the world had
gone to hell in a
handbasket just
in twenty-four
hours,” Clinton
told former CIA
analyst and PDB
briefer David
Priess, “And it was
all my fault!”
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Pages from President Harry Truman’s first daily
brief on February 15, 1946.
slow to adapt to the Checklist and
showed irregular interest in daily
intelligence updates. The CIA
changed its product and introduced
the PDB in December 1964 which
the president warmed to. The PDB
correctly predicted the 1967 ArabIsraeli Six-Day War and suggested it
would last only a week.
President Richard Nixon was
CIA’s most difficult consumer.
National Security Advisor Henry
Kissinger acted as a conduit for
the PDB and folded its contents
into his larger daily brief to Nixon.
Nixon distrusted the CIA, which he
viewed as dominated by Ivy League
liberals. But in contrast to 1967, the
PDB failed to forecast the 1973 Yom
Kippur War.
With little intelligence
experience, President Gerald Ford
elected to have a CIA briefer, Dave
Peterson, present the PDB to him
early every morning. Peterson
walked Ford through the articles,
answered questions and provided
feedback to the PDB staff.
President Ronald Reagan, despite
reports of his inattention to details,
was an avid reader of the PDB. The
Situation Room staff placed the
document in a red leather folder,
along with the Sit Room’s daily
summary and the State Department
report. Reagan’s national security
advisor gave the folder to Reagan at
a set time every morning.
George H W Bush, a former CIA
director, proved to be the most
active and interested Oval Office
consumer of the PDB, citing that
reading it was “one of [his’ favourite
times of the day.”
Bush’s enthusiasm and warm
demeanor allowed the CIA to
attempt a bit of humour in the
spring of 1989. CIA director
William Webster and the PDB
briefer entered the Oval Office with
a woman, ostensibly a CIA courier.
She was really Joanna Goeser, who
had created a highly classified
disguise system for use by CIA case
George W Bush
proved to be
just as energetic
as his father in
receiving the PDB
and briefer. He
posed probing
questions, asked
for more details
and relished deep
dives into complex
intelligence,
especially in
extended weekly
sessions he
called Terrorism
Tuesdays
officers overseas, and was wearing
one. Bush picked up on the gambit,
but when Webster had Goeser
remove the disguise, everyone else
on the room was quite startled.
“She did it very well,” Webster said
later. “The president got a big kick
out of it.”
President Bill Clinton’s early
disinterest in intelligence matters
frustrated his first director of
central intelligence, James Woolsey.
When a pilot crashed a small plane
on the White House South Lawn in
1994, Washington insiders claimed
it was Woolsey trying to get an
appointment with the president.
Clinton’s interest in the PDB varied
widely, and his famous inability to
stay on his daily schedule inhibited
regular meetings with his CIA
briefer. He most often read the
document by himself and found
intelligence on foreign leaders to be
helpful. Clinton fell for a couple of
bogus PDB editions on April Fools’
Day, and had a good laugh.
“They tried to convince me
the world had gone to hell in a
handbasket just in twenty-four
hours,” Clinton told Priess, “And it
was all my fault!”
George W Bush proved to be
just as energetic as his father in
receiving the PDB and briefer. He
posed probing questions, asked for
more details and relished deep dives
into complex intelligence, especially
in extended weekly sessions
he called Terrorism Tuesdays.
After 9/11, CIA added a new PDB
supplement called the Threat
Matrix that Bush read eagerly. It was
a joint FBI-CIA spreadsheet that
earlier might have connected some
dots on l-Qaeda’s plans before
September 2001.
Despite Bush’s enthusiasm,
the PDB process during his
administration was seriously
disrupted by the 9/11 Commission
investigation, as well as
examinations of the intelligence
surrounding the nonexistent Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction.
President Barack Obama has read
the PDB daily, but he has met with his
briefer less regularly. Ever the techsavvy president, Obama first read
the PDB on an iPad on January 31,
2012, and the White House released
an image of the milestone. CIA and
the director of national intelligence
dropped the paper PDB and switched
to a digital version in 2014.
The author has written an
authoritative yet easily read book
about an important part of the
president’s daily routine. He has
successfully enlivened the work
with myriad first-person accounts
from former presidents down to
the folks who have written the
PDB articles. A CIA review of the
manuscript ensured that classified
material was not included, but
Priess gives the reader plenty of
substance to go with details of the
process.
As a result, The President’s Book
of Secrets offers a previously untold
story about one of those closely
guarded, “eyes-only” facets of the
intelligence world. — TNS
4
GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
BODY & MIND
Intensive exercise may
keep ageing mind sharp
By Melissa Healy
O
lder people who engage
in strenuous exercise
are more mentally
nimble, have better
memory function and
process information more speedily
than do their more sedentary peers,
new research suggests. And as they
continued to age, participants who
were very physically active at the
start of a five-year study lost less
ground cognitively than did couch
potatoes, according to the study.
The latest research, published in
the journal Neurology, is the most
recent study to underscore the
importance of moderate to intensive
exercise in healthy ageing. In
addition to keeping diabetes, heart
disease and osteoporosis at bay or in
check, a welter of studies suggests a
good workout is powerful medicine
for the ageing brain, preventing and
treating depression and shoring up
cognitive function.
The latest research parses out
the cognitive benefits of moderate
to intensive physical activity in an
ethnically diverse group of New York
City residents with an average age of
71 upon entry into the study. Latinos
represented roughly 60% and
20% of the participants identified
as black. Nearly half had a high
school education or less. Most were
followed for about five years, at the
end of which their performance in
a range of cognitive domains was
compared with their baseline scores.
What distinguished the intensive
exercisers from those with light or
no leisure-time physical activity?
In the previous two weeks before
enrollment, they reported engaging
in activities several times a week
likely to get their heart rates up.
Those who reported light or no
leisure-time physical activity
made up the remaining 90% of
participants.
“If you’re thinking strolling,
you’re not going to make it” into that
top 10% category, said the study’s
lead author, University of Miami
neurologist Clinton B Wright. “You
need to do a significant amount of
exercise and get your heart rate up
to fit into the moderate-to-heavy
category.”
When researchers looked only
at subjects who had no evidence of
cognitive impairment when they
enrolled in the study, they found a
stark difference in memory function
between the highly active and those
who engaged in either no leisuretime physical activity or only light
intensity activity: After five years,
exercisers were the equivalent of 10
years younger than the light- and
non-exercisers on measures of
“episodic memory” function — the
ability to recall past experiences and
autobiographical information.
The new research also suggests
that vascular health is a key link
between physical and mental fitness
as we age. The health of our blood
vessels is likely influenced by the
exercise we do; in turn, the health
of those vessels affects our mental
agility as we age as well.
Specifically, researchers turned up
evidence that having risk factors for
stroke — most notably hypertension
— effectively contributes to
accelerated brain-ageing. That
became clear in the new study when
its author adjusted for variations
in participants’ vascular risk
factors, measured during MRI scans
administered when the participants
enrolled.
When the researchers took into
account participants’ vascular risk
factors, they found that exercising
was not as powerful a predictor
of how well a person’s brain aged.
A recent history of moderate to
intensive exercise remained a
predictor of episodic memory
function and speed of processing,
but the relationship became less
pronounced.
That suggests that when the tiny
blood vessels that supply oxygen
throughout the brain are in good
condition, cognitive impairment
and its scary older sibling, dementia,
are less likely to take hold. Regular
exercise, which is known to keep
blood vessels throughout the body in
good condition, may indirectly help
to minimize the cognitive decline
that comes with age.
Wright cautioned that its design
does not allow one to draw a direct
causal line from exercise to brain
ageing, even if it stops along the way
at vascular health. But he said that
a person who engages in intensive
exercise is both less likely to have
hypertension, high cholesterol,
diabetes and a history of smoking
and more likely to have acted to
mitigate them if they develop.
That fact will likely make his
or her vascular health better and
make his or her brain more resilient
against the effects of ageing, Wright
said. Exercise might also facilitate
the release of hormones that protect
the brain as it ages, he added.
Mayo Clinic cardiologist Virend
Somers said the new research may
not illuminate direct relationships
between exercise and cognitive
ageing, however. It may show, as
many observational studies do,
that cognitively healthier people
are more likely to engage in healthy
behaviours, such as exercise, that in
turn maintain their brain health.
But Somers said that added to
other studies that strongly suggest
a link between regular exercise and
brain health, the study makes a good
case for exercise.
“Given its cost-free nature
and the myriad other benefits of
exercise, I think we should assume
it helps until definitively shown
otherwise,” said Somers. “We do
know it’s going to lower blood
pressure, lower cardiovascular
risk, maintain lean muscle mass
and counter against frailty.”
Somers added that for many,
such exercise is a social occasion.
And research suggests that social
interaction is the antidote for
isolation and loneliness, which can
be cognitively toxic and is linked to
higher rates of dementia.
Even if a person doesn’t
have improvement in cognitive
function, “exercise has all these
other things going on,” Somers
added. “My bias would be to say
it probably does help cognitive
function. But there are so many
healthy benefits, it’s worth the
intervention,” he added. — Los
Angeles Times/TNS
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
5
COMMUNITY
BODY & MIND
MRI more accurate than ultrasound
to predict preterm birth, says study
For mothers-to-be, going for an MRI of the cervix
area can give more accurate results than ultrasound to
predict if some women will give a preterm birth, say
researchers.
Early dilation of the cervix, a neck of tissue
connecting the uterus with the vagina, during pregnancy
can lead to premature delivery.
Women in their second trimester of pregnancy with
a cervix measuring 15mm or less, as seen on ultrasound,
are considered to be at higher risk of preterm birth.
However, ultrasound has limitations as a predictor
of preterm birth, as it does not provide important
information on changes in cervical tissue in the
antepartum phase just before childbirth.
“A better understanding of the process of antepartum
cervical remodelling, loosely divided in two distinct
phases called softening and ripening, is critical to
improve the diagnosis of cervical malfunction and
anticipate the occurrence of birth,” explained lead study
author Gabriele Masselli from Sapienza University in
Rome.
To learn more, researchers used an MRI technique
called diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to examine
pregnant women who had been referred for suspected
fetal or placental abnormality.
DWI has been increasingly used for abdominal
and pelvic diseases, but has not been tested for the
evaluation of the uterine cervix in pregnant patients.
Each of the 30 pregnant women in the study,
published in the Journal of Radiology, had a
sonographically short cervix and a positive fetal
fibronectin test between 23 and 28 weeks of gestation.
Fetal fibronectin is a glue-like protein that helps hold
the fetal sac to the uterine lining and the presence of it
before week 35 of gestation may indicate a higher risk of
preterm birth.
Of the 30 women, eight delivered within a week of the
MRI examination. The other 22 delivered an average of
55 days later.
The researchers analysed the difference between an
MRI and ultrasound method.
“Our results suggest that MRI has emerged as a
powerful imaging biomarker in evaluating patients with
impending delivery,” the authors stated. — IANS
Losing weight through
diet can reverse diabetes
How babies deal with angry adults!
J
ust as we often form fast
opinions about each other’s
personalities, especially when
it comes to negative traits,
15-month-old infants also form
similar generalisations about others and
make attempts to appease adults they
consider prone to anger, a study says.
“Our research suggests that babies
will do whatever they can to avoid
being the target of anger,” said lead
study author Betty Repacholi from the
University of Washington.
“At this young of an age, they have
already worked out a way to stay
safe. It’s a smart, adaptive response,”
Repacholi said.
The study involving over 200 infants
showed that 15-month-old babies
generalise an adult’s angry behaviour
even if the social context has changed.
The researchers wanted to see how
exposing babies to an unfamiliar adult’s
anger toward another adult would affect
the babies’ behaviour in a new situation.
Do the babies assume that the initial
negative encounters would happen
again?
“We wanted to see if babies would
treat the anger they had seen before as
a one-off event or whether they see it
as being part of the person’s character,”
Repacholi said.
“Our research shows that babies
are carefully paying attention to the
emotional reactions of adults,” study
co-author Andrew Meltzoff from
University of Washington noted. “Babies
make snap judgements as to whether an
adult is anger-prone. They pigeon-hole
adults more quickly than we thought,”
Meltzoff pointed out.
The findings were published in the
journal Developmental Psychology.
“The babies are ‘emotion detectives.’
They watch and listen to our emotions,
remember how we acted in the past, and
use this to predict how we will act in the
future. How long these first impressions
last is an important question,” Meltzoff
noted. — IANS
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes for 10 years
or even longer than that, don’t give up hope as major
improvement in blood sugar control is possible!
According to a new study, individuals who suffer from
diabetes and successfully lose weight through a very
low-calorie diet, can reverse their condition and remain
free of diabetes for the long term.
In addition, even patients who had type 2 diabetes for
up to 10 years can also reverse their condition.
The findings showed that the fat, which accumulated
in their pancreas, gets removed as a result of a lowcalorie diet and thus leads to the normal production of
insulin.
“What we have shown is that it is possible to reverse
your diabetes, even if you have had the condition for a
long time, up to around 10 years,” said lead researcher
Roy Taylor, professor at Newcastle University in
Britain.
Individuals vary in how much weight they can carry
without it seeming to affect their metabolism. If a
person gains more weight than what he or she personally
can tolerate, then diabetes is triggered, but if they then
lose that amount of weight then they go back to normal.
“The bottom line is that if a person really wants to get
rid of their type 2 diabetes, they can lose weight, keep it
off and return to normal,” Taylor maintained.
For the research, published in the journal Diabetes
Care, 30 volunteers having type 2 diabetes for between
six months and 23 years embarked on a diet of 600 to
700 calories a day. Participants lost on average 14kg.
Over the next six months they did not regain any weight.
Overall 12 patients, who were having diabetes for less
than 10 years, reversed their condition. Six months later
they remained diabetes free.
Though the volunteers lost weight they remained
overweight or obese but they had lost enough weight
to remove the fat out of the pancreas and allow normal
insulin production, the researchers pointed out.— IANS
6
GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
CUISINE
Making kebabs on stone
Desi ghee 2 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Garnish
Onion rings to garnish
Lemon wedge 5-6 no
Equipment required
Granite stone to cook
Charcoal to heat the stone
Pathar ke Kebab.
Y
es, you read it right.
But I mean by “as
many kebabs as
cooks” is the variety
of exotic and delicious
mouth-watering kebabs that was
equivalent to the number of cooks
in the royal kitchens of ancient
Indian rulers.
Each cook had their own unique
way of making and serving the
kebabs to their king and this is
what differentiated them from
each other. Once the kebab was
presented to the ruler of the
region and he/she appreciated
it, the recipe would be tried
again and again for the royal
feasts and thus will be carried
from one generation of cooks
to another. Indian cuisine has
always been influenced by the
travellers from neighbouring
Photo by the author
countries who brought with them
their techniques and recipes for
their kebabs. Hyderabad is one
such place that can undoubtedly
be called the home to the best
of the cooks and has exerted
considerable influence on
traditional kebab making.
One such kebab from the
kitchens of royal India is “Pathar
ke Kebab” — you read it right but
am sure are misunderstood the
meaning; I am not going to make
kebab with “pathar” (stone) as its
ingredient but will use a hot stone
to cook the kebab. So what makes
this kebab unique is the method of
cooking. The method is slow but
the resulting kebab is absolutely
delicious and simply melts in the
mouth.
Stone being a good conductor
of heat has a property to retain
the heat and give a constant
temperature for cooking on its
surface, which is very essential for
cooking perfect tender kebabs. The
other reason for this kebab to be
called so is the spice called “pathar
ke phool” or “kalpasi” or “darad ke
phool”. This is a peculiar spice with
a peculiar shape and can be found
along with other spices if you buy
a whole curry powder packet in
south India. In Tamil “kal” means
stone and “passi” means green
coloured moss that grows on rocks
in running streams or rivers or on
trees in hill stations.
Kalpasi does not have any
particular shape and is very light. It
is in the form of a curly dried flower.
You can spot shades of black, white,
grey, green and pale green. There
is no smell when it is raw, but it
imparts its unique flavour that is
close to star anise when cooked in
curries.
I came to know of this exotic
recipe from my mentor Chef
Sushil Chug, who is a master of the
trade and has always been a great
inspiration to me.
Pathar ke kebab
Serves 4
Ingredients
Lamb muscle meat 1 kg
Ginger, fine chopped 1 tbsp
Garlic, minced 1 tbsp
Raw papaya, paste 2 tbsp
Green chili paste 3-4 no
Black cumin powder ½ tsp
Cinnamon powder 1 tsp
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
Garam masala ½ tsp
Kalpasi or darad phool 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Method
Wash and pat dry the lamb muscle
meat and place in a clean bowl.
Marinate with ginger garlic paste,
green chili paste and raw papaya
paste and refrigerate for 2-3 hours
(preferable overnight).
In a separate bowl combine
desi ghee, black cumin powder,
cinnamon powder, Garam masala,
kalpasi, salt and lemon juice and
make a marinade.
Marinate the lamb muscle
slices in the above marinade and
refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place a granite stone over hot
charcoal to make it hot.
Once the granite stone is hot
enough, place the marinated lamb
muscle meat on it.
The meat should sizzle at first and
the sizzling will reduce as the stone
gets a bit cold due to lamb.
The hot charcoal will raise the
temperature of the stone, causing
the meat to sizzle again. The lamb
will cook in its own juices and will
absorb the moisture.
Turn the meat to cook evenly from
both the sides.
Once the lamb is cooked and the
moisture evaporates, remove from
stone.
Serve hot garnished with onion
rings, lemon wedge and choice of
bread.
Note: In case you can’t use
charcoal to heat the stone, place
the stone in the oven to make it
hot and place the kebab covered
with silver foil on top so that the
kebab incorporates the flavour of
hot stone. Other option is to place
the stone over your kitchen stove
over very low heat and make it hot
gradually and cook the kebab on top.
Be careful about gradually heating
the stone otherwise the stone will
crack due to sudden change in
temperature.
z Tarun Kapoor is executive chef
at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel.
Send your feedback to:
[email protected]
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
7
COMMUNITY
A still from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
Two family films not to miss at QIFF
By Anand Holla
T
he ongoing seventh
edition of Qatar
International Food
Festival (QIFF) is not
just about food for the
tummy and thrill for the taste
buds, but it’s also about nourishing
a wholesome family experience.
Two popular and very entertaining
animation films – Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs, and Ponyo –
will be screened throughout the
length of the festival at the Qanat
Quartier Beach pop-up at The
Pearl.
While the American production
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
will be screened tomorrow
A still from Ponyo.
(March 26) and on March 28 at
7:30pm, the Japanese Ponyo will
be screened today (March 25) and
on March 27 at 7:30pm – and we
recommend you don’t miss either
of them. The screenings are free
but since the capacity is limited,
the seats are first come first served.
QIFF 2016’s official festivity
partners include Ooredoo, Baraem
TV, and Doha Film Institute, who
will be screening the two movies.
In the 2009 computer-animated
science fiction comedy film loosely
based on the children’s book
of the same name by Judi and
Ron Barrett, local scientist Flint
Lockwood invents a machine that
can turn water into food. But when
his latest contraption accidentally
destroys the town square and
rockets up into the clouds, he
thinks his inventing career is over.
Then something amazing happens
as delicious cheeseburgers start
raining from the sky – his machine
seems to work well.
As people’s greed drives them
to ask for more food, the machine
starts to run amok, unleashing
spaghetti tornadoes and giant
meatballs that threaten the whole
world. Now it’s up to Flint, with
the help of weather girl Sam
Sparks and Steve, his talking
monkey assistant, to find some
way to shut down the machine
before the world is covered in
super-sized meatballs.
The film’s directors, Philip
A. “Phil” Lord and Christopher
Robert Miller are American film
and television writers, producers,
directors, actors and animators.
Lord and Miller met at Dartmouth
College. They are known for
directing and writing the animated
films Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs (2009) and The Lego
Movie (2014), as well as directing
the comedy 21 Jump Street (2012)
and its sequel 22 Jump Street (2014).
Cloudy… received positive reviews
from critics. Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87
per cent of critics gave positive
reviews based on 138 reviews with
an average rating of 7.3/10.
The 2008-fantasy treat Ponyo
introduces us to Sōsuke, a goodnatured son of a sailor who loves
playing by the sea. One day, he
finds a beautiful fish trapped in a
bottle. The five-year-old boy frees
the creature, names her Ponyo and
takes her everywhere in his green
bucket, promising to look after
her forever. Touched by Sōsuke’s
kindness and fascinated by his life
on land, Ponyo decides she wants
to become human. Unbeknownst
to Sōsuke, however, Ponyo is in
fact a goldfish princess – and
Fujimoto, her magician father, is
distraught at her disappearance
and summons all his power to
return her to her undersea home.
But Ponyo’s love for Sōsuke is so
great and her desire to live on land
so strong that the world is thrown
out of balance, and it takes a lot of
love, magic and understanding to
make things right again.
Celebrated anime director
Hayao Miyazaki is in magnificent
form with Ponyo (2008), which
makes excellent use of the master’s
customary stunning, magical
animation to tell a charming tale.
A gorgeous underwater universe,
thrilling soundtrack, hilarious
antics and imaginative whimsy
make Ponyo a holiday treat for the
whole family.
Some of the interesting trivia
about the film that carries the
tagline of ‘Welcome to a world
where anything is possible’ is that
the opening 12 seconds, involving
vast schools of fish and undersea
creatures, required 1613 pages of
conceptual sketches to develop.
The level of detail in the animation
resulted in 170,000 separate
images — the most that have ever
appeared in a Miyazaki film. Also,
this is the first animated feature
film since Princess Mononoke
(1997) to be created and painted on
traditional animation cels.
Ponyo won five awards at the
Tokyo Anime Awards in 2009,
including Anime of the Year, Best
Domestic Film, Best Director and
Best Art Direction, and was named
Animation of the Year by the Japan
Academy Prize Association the
same year.
8
GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
TRAVEL
New Zealand’s hiking trails offer
one spectacle after another
SERENITY: A hiker enjoys the view of Lake Rotoiti near the top of Mount Roberts in New Zealand.
By Mark Muckenfuss
T
he hike had been
invigorating —
invigorating, as in just
this side of gruelling.
A 6-mile ascent into
Mount Aspiring National Park
had brought us to an overlook of
Routeburn Falls, a thundering
multilevel cascade of crystalline
water (standard for New Zealand)
jumping from the rock face above
our heads and rushing into the deep
valley below us. There we could
see the Routeburn River winding
through the high-shouldered
Humboldt Mountains on its way to
Lake Wakatipu.
We were breathless not only
because of the impressive scenery
but because we had run out of time.
Sights along the Routeburn Track
earlier in the day had slowed us
down, and in order to see the falls,
we had sprinted the last mile up
the steep trail. We were sweating,
struggling for air and, most
importantly, feeling that the extra
effort had been completely worth it.
Other than the danger of
overextending yourself, hiking New
Zealand’s abundance of trails is
almost never disappointing. In fact,
if you come all this way and don’t
take advantage of them, you’ve
truly missed out.
And the Kiwis work hard to
make hiking attractive. The
maintenance on the trails we hiked
was impressive: crushed-rock
trail beds; comfortable clearance
even in the most dense areas of the
beech- and fern-dominated rain
forests; boardwalks that meander
over wetlands; and well-built, if
sometimes unnerving, suspension
bridges that span the roiling creeks.
Richard Davies, a recreation
manager for New Zealand’s
Department of Conservation, said
about $65 million is pumped into
the country’s park areas annually.
Much of that money is devoted to
trail development and making sure
they are maintained properly.
“It hasn’t happened by chance,”
Davies said of the manicured
trails. “All our staff is working on
certain service standards – how
much vegetation is cleared, the
gradient of the track, whether
the watercourses are bridged
or not. We can provide a really
consistent service. Wherever you
go in the country you get a similar
experience.”
From our hikes in the Bay of
Islands on the North Island, to
the southern regions of Fiordland
National Park on the South Island,
we found this to be true.
And there is good reason for the
effort. The spectacular scenery
this island nation has to offer
is unsurpassed. Director Peter
Jackson didn’t just film his JRR
Tolkien epics here because he didn’t
want to leave his home country. The
vertical landscapes, whether they
anchor themselves in mountain
rivers, broad lakes or the Pacific
Ocean, perfectly lend themselves to
fantasy.
What we were seeing often felt
unreal: The knife-edged ridges on
the mountains, the steep faces of
which are frequently laced with
waterfalls. The dense, verdant
forests filled with calling birds and
towering giant ferns that make you
feel as if you’ve stumbled into some
prehistoric world. The glittering
lakes, where the water is so clear
you can see the bottom until
reflection gets in your way many
yards from shore.
All of these, and more, make this
a country of constant surprises.
And hiking is one of the best ways
to see it.
Originally, we had planned
to backpack some of the trails,
throwing our lot in with a largely
younger crowd frequently seen not
only on the trails but in the cities
and by the sides of the roads, their
thumbs extended. But when my
girlfriend broke her arm four days
before we were due to fly out of
Los Angeles International Airport,
we had to alter our itinerary.
Nevertheless, she was determined
not to be slowed down, and we got
in plenty of trail time and plenty of
those wonderful surprises.
What we call hiking, folks here
refer to as trekking or tramping, and
it’s a bit different than what we’re
used to in the United States. There
aren’t many places on the popular
trails where you can head out into
the wilderness and plunk your tent
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
9
COMMUNITY
TRAVEL
Hikers make their way down from Mount Roberts in New Zealand on a trail paved with crushed rock.
down when you think you’ve found
a good campsite.
On many trails, you can set
up camp only in designated
campgrounds. On some, trekkers
can only stay overnight in huts,
many of which are rather primitive.
Davies said the oldest one his
agency manages was built in the
1860s by early farmers. Some, such
as the one at Routeburn Falls, are
relatively new and — while it is
a dormitory — the bunked beds
are partitioned off in a way that
provides a moderate degree of
privacy.
New Zealand’s most famous trail,
the Milford Track in Fiordland, is
also its most restrictive. Both ends
of the track are accessible primarily
by ferry. Hikers can only do the
route in one direction, and you
have to have a permit or be with
a guide to access the trail at all.
Reservations are hard to come by.
When I looked in October, shortly
after we decided to travel to New
Zealand, there were no reservations
available until April.
Davies said the coveted spots
usually get booked a year ahead
of time. He didn’t know the exact
timetable but said reservations for
the 2016-17 season would soon
open.
Booking campsites and huts
is required on the more popular
trails. January weekday spots for
the Routeburn Track, perhaps the
next most popular after the Milford
Track, were still available when
I checked in late November. But
if you go during New Zealand’s
summer, January to April, there is
plenty of competition, especially
for space in the huts. There are
cancellation penalties, but you are
best off booking as early as possible.
However, there are other options.
On less popular trails, huts are
often available on a first-come,
first-served basis and, according
to Davies, you can camp wherever
you find a good spot. If you venture
onto some of these trails, don’t
expect the carefully tended paths of
the major tracks.
“We have many that are
essentially just a few markers,”
Davies said. “Every park or piece
of land has trails like that. They
tend to be not advertised as
much.”
But choosing the “advanced”
or “expert” category on the
conservation department’s website
will direct you to such trails.
We may tackle some of those
next time around. But on this trip
we found ourselves on some of the
more popular routes.
We started our South Island trip
in Nelson, a quiet town but one
with enough restaurants to make it
interesting. After an overnight stay
at the very comfortable Bretton’s
Retreat bed and breakfast amid the
vineyards of nearby Brightwater,
we took a 45-minute drive to Lake
Rotoiti, one of the Nelson Lakes.
Here there are several trails
around the lake and up adjoining
valleys. We took one of two steep
trails to the top of Mount Roberts, a
3,800-foot climb, where there was
a spectacular view of the lake below
and of the steep slopes of the St.
Arnaud Mountains to the south.
Trail distances in New Zealand’s
parks are typically measured in time
rather than distance. We found the
times to be pretty liberal estimates.
The Mount Roberts loop is listed
at five hours. We finished in 3.5
without pushing it.
Our drive for the remainder
of the day took us through the
Marlborough region and down
the picturesque east coastline,
where we saw ample numbers of
surfers and sea lions, to Kaikoura.
The seaside village is known for its
crayfish, or spiny lobster, and ocean
excursions to see whales or swim
with wild dolphins.
One of the things we had hoped
to see was Mount Cook, New
Zealand’s highest peak, in its
Southern Alps. So the following
day, we drove through the busy city
of Christchurch and miles of green
farmland to reach the tiny resort
town of Lake Tekapo.
Along the way, we stopped at the
occasional roadside stand to buy
blueberries, peaches and, of course,
kiwi. We were surprised to discover
that the quality and price of the
produce was pretty comparable
in the supermarkets. And while
the cost was a bit higher than in
the States, we did not run into the
exorbitant prices we’d been warned
about. The same held true for hotel
rates and dining out.
We left Lake Tekapo in the
morning rain. The weather hadn’t
improved much by the time we
had skirted the shores of glacierfed Lake Pukaki with its steel grey
surface, and reached the trail
leading into the Aoraki/Mount
Cook National Park. An hour’s
hike took us over roaring streams
and along the base of cliff faces cut
with waterfalls. When we reached
the trail’s end at the milky Hooker
Lake, the clouds had only slightly
lifted and offered us only occasional
glimpses of the shoulders of Mount
Cook. Nevertheless, the scenery
was stunning.
New Zealand’s weather can be
dicey, even in summer. These are,
after all, rain forests that we were
hiking through. They’re called rain
forests for a reason.
Three days later, when we were
trekking along the southern end of
the 30-mile-long Routeburn Track,
we took a detour to Key Summit.
There we were perched above a
dramatic landscape. I know this
because it said so in large letters on
the sign in front of us. It was one of
those sloped metal signs that depict
the view before you, labelling all of
the important geographic features.
To our left was Mount Christina
or, to the Maori, Te Taumata o
Hinepipiwai. Far below, cradled
in a glacial cirque, was Lake
Marian. Wrapped in a drizzling fog
whiteout, we could see none of it.
There was nothing else to do.
I took a picture of the sign.
Fortunately, this was the
exception. Though we dealt with
overcast skies on many of the days
we were in New Zealand, the clouds
often added to the landscape, rather
than detracting from it. They were
part of the experience.
But, as if bestowing a parting
gift upon us, the following day
was sunny. We had returned to the
North Island and had started our
final day with a hike on the coast
directly west of Auckland, above
Mercer Bay, where the coastline
rivals Big Sur’s.
At one headland stands a carving
of the Maori maiden Hinerangi,
The Routeburn Trail skirts the base of the nearly 600-foot-high Earland Falls in
New Zealand.
MAINTAINED: Many popular trails feature substantial maintenance and
development, like this suspension bridge on the Routeburn Track in New Zealand.
who married a young chieftain but
lost him at sea. Legend says she
died on this spot of a broken heart,
looking out to sea, hoping for the
return of her love. Her face is said to
appear on a nearby cliff side.
I wasn’t able to pick out her
features, but that hardly diminished
the beauty of the place. Nor did her
sad tale dampen my enthusiasm
or appreciation for what we had
experienced along the trails we
tramped in New Zealand. — The
Orange County Register/TNS
10 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
INFOGR
RAPHIC
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
COMMUNITY
11
12 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
EMS Wakrah students perform two plays
The English Modern School Wakrah KG classes recently brought two award-winning stories to life. They re-enacted the The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and The Wide Mouthed Frog by Iain Smith.
The students were excited at being able to participate in the activity and flex out their acting skills in front of an appreciative audience.
C K Menon OICC Global president
Doha resident and prominent
entrepreneur C K Menon will continue
as president of the global chapter of the
Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC),
a forum of the Indian National Congress
party’s followers from the southern state
of Kerala.
Menon was also the president of
the forum for the last four years.
The announcement was made in
Thiruvananathapuram on Wednesday by
president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress
Committee (KPCC) V M Sudheeran.
Besides Menon, three other Doha
residents are also among the new officebearers of the forum, which reportedly has
members from as many as 46 countries.
Joppachan Thekkekuttu and Thomas
Kannamkara (both from Qatar) are
nominated as general secretary and
vice-president of the organisation, which
is affiliated to the KPCC, according to a
communique of the president.
While Thekkekuttu is one of the three
general secretaries of the forum,
Kannamkara is among the eight vicepresidents, it said.
There are 16 secretaries as well. Shameer
Illath (Qatar) is among the secretaries.
Menon, Thekkekuttu, Kannamkara and
Indian Cultural and Arts Society Qatar
(Incas Qatar) chief K K Usman have also
been nominated as members of the
KPCC.
C K Menon, left, and Joppachan Thekkekuttu.
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
COMMUNITY
LEISURE
Colour by numbers
Colour by choice
Maze
Connect the dots
Picture crossword
13
14 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
CARTOONS
Friday, March 25, 2016
Quick Clues
Wordwatch
Down
1. Criminal (5)
2. Secret agent (3)
3. Depressed (4)
4. Society (9)
5. Competition (7)
8. Envoy (6)
11. Victimise (9)
13. Caress (6)
14. Cheapen (7)
16. Armistice (5)
18. Require (4)
20. Away (3)
Cryptic Clues
Across
6. Person selling bloomers (7)
7. Mythical king upsetting
maids (5)
9. Choose to love physical
training (3)
10. Having two tongues? (9)
12. 25% rebate for American
footballer (11)
15. Easy accessibility of a public
toilet (11)
17. Gets back from the River
Tees? (9)
19. Some domesticated animal
(3)
21. Hide fire residue on a street
(5)
22. New used car campaign (7)
futilitarian (fyoo-til-i-TAR-ee-uhn)
MEANING:
adjective:
1. Devoted to futile pursuits.
noun:
1. A person devoted to futile pursuits.
2. One who believes that human striving
is useless.
ETYMOLOGY:
A blend of futile and utilitarian. Earliest
documented use: 1827.
USAGE:
“‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.’
Dante was the First Futilitarian.”
Brad Blanton; Futilitarianism; Tikkun
(Berkeley, California); Nov/Dec 2004.
“Owner Jerry Reinsdorf had promised
an all-out effort to improve, but the team
seems to have adopted a futilitarian
attitude.”
Bob Verdi; Only Flag Over Comiskey Park
Is White; Chicago Tribune; Jul 9, 1989.
photoshop (FOT-uh-shop)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To digitally alter an image,
especially in order to distort reality.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Adobe Photoshop, a widely-used
software package for editing images.
Earliest documented use: 1992.
USAGE:
“In the name of modesty an Israeli ultraOrthodox publication photoshopped the
female leaders from its coverage.”
First — And Last — Do No Harm; The
Economist (London, UK); Jan 24, 2015.
dox (doks)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To gather and publish someone’s
personal information, such as phone
number, address, e-mail messages, credit
card numbers, etc., especially with a
malicious intent.
noun: Personal information about
someone, collected and published
without permission.
ETYMOLOGY:
Phonetic respelling of docs, short for
documents, from Latin documentum
(lesson, proof, specimen), from docere
(to teach), which also gave us doctor and
docent. Earliest documented use: early
2000s.
USAGE:
“He doxed her, posting her address and
apartment number, which he had filched
from her Internet provider.”
Jason Fagone; The Serial Swatter; The
New York Times; Nov 24, 2015.
defriend (di-FREND)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To remove someone from one’s
list of online friends.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin de- (from, away) + friend, from
Old English freond. Ultimately from the
Indo-European root pri- (to love), which
Down
1. Undergarments seen on a cricket
field (5)
2. Run out to get a vase (3)
3. It’s a comeback for Italian wine (4)
4. Method of bringing home the
bacon? (9)
5. Victoria and Albert stick to
drapery (7)
8. Call for no tricks as the motorway
dried up (6)
11. Awfully repulsive crush (9)
13. Give a tenner back for
cheesemaking substance (6)
14. She breaks a toaster (7)
16. Hospital rooms needing
guardians (5)
18. Nobleman playing Lear? (4)
20. Enquire like a king (3)
CRYPTIC
Across: 7 With the smooth; 8 Serenade;
9 Tape; 10 Tiptop; 12 Ordain; 14 Ledger; 16
Defect; 18 Alto; 20 Sidereal; 22 Takes the
rough.
Down: 1 Live-wire; 2 Threat; 3 Whoa; 4
Asteroid; 5 Bolted; 6 Step; 11 Parasite; 13
In charge; 15 Glover; 17 Farrow; 19 Lean;
21 Diet.
also gave us free, Friday, and Sanskrit priya
(beloved). Earliest documented use: 2004.
NOTES:
The first use of the word ‘defriend’ in
the Oxford English Dictionary is from
2004. In contrast, the first use of the
word ‘befriend’ goes all the way to 1559.
It took us another 100 years to ‘unfriend’
someone — 1659. The verb ‘to friend’ goes
way back to 1225. Finally, the noun ‘friend’
is attested in Old English (c. 450-1150).]
USAGE:
“In Trumplandia to our south, presidential
candidates and governors are trying
to defriend a quarter of the world’s
population and put up ‘No Muslims
allowed’ signs.”
Josh Freed; Tips on Life in Montreal
for Syrian Refugees; Montreal Gazette
(Canada); Dec 19, 2015.
peeps (peeps)
MEANING:
noun: People, especially when referring to
one’s friends or associates.
ETYMOLOGY:
Shortened form of people. Earliest
documented use: 1847.
USAGE:
“I was with my peeps in the right-field
pavilion.”
Chris Erskine; Buy Dodgers?; Los Angeles
Times; Apr 18, 2013.
— wordsmith.org
Yesterday’s Solutions
Sudoku
Yesterday’s Solutions
QUICK
Across: 7 Mouth-watering; 8 Ethereal;
9 Bowl; 10 Clinic; 12 Indigo; 14 System;
16 Yellow; 18 Flow; 20 Tempting; 22
Impressionist.
Down: 1 Hostelry; 2 Strewn; 3 Twee; 4
Stultify; 5 Probed; 6 Gnaw; 11 Comatose; 13
Goodness; 15 Tawdry; 17 Latent; 19 Limp;
21 Mail.
15
COMMUNITY
LEISURE
Across
6. Maim (7)
7. Benefactor (5)
9. Summit (3)
10. Disfigurement (9)
12. Egoism (11)
15. Character (11)
17. Male (9)
19. Arid (3)
21. Mouldy (5)
22. Ideal (7)
GULF TIMES
Sudoku is a puzzle
based on a 9x9 grid. The
grid is also divided into
nine (3x3) boxes. You
are given a selection of
values and to complete
the puzzle, you must fill the grid so that
every column, every row and every 3x3
box contains the digits 1 to 9 and none
is repeated.
Mall Cinema (1): Batman Vs.
Superman (2D) 2.30pm; The
Invitation (2D) 5pm; Every
Secret Thing (2D) 7pm; Batman
Vs. Superman (2D) 9pm; Rocky
Handsome (Hindi) 11.30pm.
Mall Cinema (2): Kung Fu
Panda 3 (2D) 2.15pm; Kung Fu
Panda 3 (2D) 4pm; Batman
Vs. Superman (2D) 5.30pm;
Batman Vs. Superman (2D)
8.15pm; Batman Vs. Superman
(2D) 11pm.
Mall Cinema (3): Rocky
Handsome (Hindi) 2.15pm;
Kapoor & Sons (Hindi)
4.30pm; Batman Vs. Superman
(2D) 7pm; Khanet El Yek
(Arabic) 9.30pm; Maheshinte
Prathikaaram (Malayalam)
11.15pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(1): Batman Vs. Superman (2D)
2.45pm; Batman Vs. Superman
(2D) 5.30pm; Batman Vs.
Superman (2D) 8.15pm;
Batman Vs. Superman (2D)
11pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(2): Kung Fu Panda 3 (2D)
2pm; Zootropolis: Zootopia
(2D) 3.30pm; Kung Fu Panda
3 (2D) 5.15pm; Batman Vs.
Superman (2D) 7pm; Khanet
El Yek (Arabic) 9.45pm; Rocky
Handsome (Hindi) 11.30pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(3): Every Secret Thing (2D)
2.30pm; The Invitation (2D)
4pm; Khanet El Yek (Arabic)
5.45pm; Rocky Handsome
(Hindi) 7.30pm; Every Secret
Thing (2D) 9.45pm; Every
Secret Thing (2D) 11.30pm.
Asian Town Cinema:
Maheshinte Prathikaaram
(Malayalam) 2, 3.30, 4.15,
5.45, 6.45, 8, 9, 10.15, 11.15pm
& 12.30am; Puthiya Niyamam
(Malayalam) 1.30, 6.45, 9 &
11.30pm; Rocky Handsome
(Hindi) 1.30, 4, 6.30, 9 &
11.30pm; Action Hero Biju
(Malayalam) 4pm.
16 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE
Out-of-office etiquette: The right way
to set up automated e-mail responses
I
t’s that time of year — the season
for Out of Office automated e-mail
responses! Whether you’ll be taking a
long vacation or will just be away from
the office for a day or two, you should
know people really do care about your OOO
settings.
Here is some tips for disconnecting with
dignity:
When setting up your OOO
z Keep things short but sweet. Avoid
rambling messages, but use a conversational
— not clinical — tone.
z Be just informative enough. Include vital
facts like whether you’ll be checking e-mail
while you’re away, if and how you can be
reached in case of a work emergency, who’s
covering for you while you’re out and when
you will return.
z Turn on your OOO right before you walk
out the door, and deactivate it once you’ve
returned to your desk. Don’t use the OOO as
a cheat to avoid work requests when you’re
back; 2 percent of people wait until the end
of their first day back to reactivate their mail,
according to the Center of Out of Office
Excellence’s survey.
z Just as you have an OOO for your work
account, use a personal away message for
your personal accounts, particularly if you’re
planning to go on a complete e-mail diet.
Have fun with your personal away message,
infusing it with some whimsy and even
inviting friends and family to interact with
you on social media rather than email.
ARIES
March 21 — April 19
There is no reason why you aren’t really making moves and getting
things done, Aries. Mercury the planner, the Sun and Uranus the
planet of the unexpected are all holding hands in your sign — urging
you on to try new and fun things!
CANCER
June 21 — July 22
Only you really know the things you’ve done and said recently which
you shouldn’t have done and said Cancers. Only you can fix these
things too. Just don’t rush it. Timing is everything.
LIBRA
September 23 — October 22
The Moon lingers in your sign again today following on from your
Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday. It’s a great time to write down all of the
things you’ve done since your birthday (as it is the half way mark)
and all the things you want to do in the next 6 months.
CAPRICORN
December 22 — January 19
Patience is a virtue most of you have plenty of. Being earth signs,
you tend to plot your course carefully versus other signs, like fire
and air signs, who simply do the first thing that comes into their
mind or heart and be done with it!
z Stay the course — if your OOO
indicates you won’t be checking e-mail,
then don’t check it at all. At the very least,
don’t reply as doing so sets the expectation
that you’re working while on vacation and
will answer e-mails consistently while
away.
TAURUS
April 20 — May 20
If you don’t feel like dealing with something today, reconsider
bulls. Venus your ruler, the planet of diplomacy and relationships is
currently exalting in Pisces, her favourite sign to inhabit. Now is the
best time of the year to deal with things.
LEO
July 23 — August 22
If you feel as if you are struggling with something today, it might be
a good idea to ask for help Leos. Sometimes you can’t see the forest
for the trees and you get way too emotional about things.
SCORPIO
October 23 — November 21
Don’t dismiss someone simply because they aren’t as read up or
knowledgeable about something as you are Scorpios. Everyone has
their own level they rise to and what you think you know about is
great, but someone else may not about something else you have no
idea about.
AQUARIUS
January 20 — February 18
If you feel someone is taking advantage of you today or trying to
take advantage of you, make sure you understand why they might
be and why you are feeling so resentful about it?
When you get someone else’s OOO
z Don’t stress. Getting an OOO response
makes them anxious because they fear work
won’t get done. Instead, remain calm and
realise there is no such thing as an e-mail
emergency. If you need immediate assistance,
simply follow the steps outlined in the
sender’s message.
z If you’re not taking a holiday or vacation,
try not to be jealous. Your turn will come
eventually. Meanwhile, relish the fact you’ll
be able to take nice, long lunches and get a lot
more done with a reduced volume of e-mail
from your OOO co-workers.
z Don’t clog the inbox of a vacationing coworker just to get something off your plate (or
chest). If your matter can wait, compose your
e-mail to out-of-office colleagues, but save it
in your drafts folder and send it when they’re
back in the office.
z Avoid sneaky contact, such as interacting
with the person on social media where work
conversations wouldn’t usually take place.
z Stage your own exit. Are you the last
person in the office? What are you waiting
for? Set your own OOO, shut down your
computer and begin your holiday, too.
© Brandpoint
GEMINI
May 21 — June 20
Unless you really need to do something that you’ve been putting
off forever and ever twins, you might do best to leave it just that
bit longer. This is a very social and gregarious time for you — make
plans to have fun — not to do something boring and overdue.
VIRGO
August 23 — September 22
If one door slams in your face, then open another one today, Virgos.
Trying to secure a home loan, car loan, home equity loan or anything
else along those lines? You have options, so don’t get turned away
and turned off Virgos.
SAGITTARIUS
November 22 — December 21
If you feel called upon to make a choice and stick to it today, try to
think carefully before diving into a decision Sags. Anytime you rush
into anything, it can come back to kick you hard in the behind!
PISCES
February 19 — March 20
Understand that by nodding your head and sympathizing with
someone who insists on playing the victim role today is NOT the
best thing you can possibly do? Sometimes listening to them is
giving them an audience which they don’t need.
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES
17
COMMUNITY
BOLLYWOOD
Aishwaryaa R Dhanush
pens her autobiography
Filmmaker Aishwaryaa R
Dhanush is all set to launch her
autobiography titled Standing On
An Apple Box. Aishwaryaa, the
elder daughter of veteran actor
Rajinikanth and wife of Kollywood
actor Dhanush, has penned her life
story as a celebrity child, star wife,
filmmaker, and mother.
The book will showcase her
personal accounts, with moments
and memories drawn from real
life incidents. “Yes, it’s true I am
coming up with my autobiography
named Standing On An Apple Box,
which is expected to come out
by end of this year. This is going
to be my debut book and will
give the readers a glimpse about
my personal life and incidents,”
Aishwaryaa said in a statement.
“I’m melancholic by nature so
there are philosophical musings
alongside a personal narrative
which has a mix of different
emotions, from highs and lows to
anger and gratitude,” she added. —
IANS
Sushant Rajput ‘excited’ to
work with Irrfan Khan
GOING STRONG: Prem Chopra
No artiste in film industry
retires voluntarily: Chopra
V
eteran actor Prem
Chopra says physical
difficulties or lack of
work often make people
retire and no artiste
from the film industry retires
voluntarily.
At the launch of the first look
of his film Udanchoo, Chopra was
asked about still working at the
age of 80. “It’s a good thing, till
the time I keep receiving work, and
till the time I have the courage,
I’ll keep working. There is no
artist in the film industry, or any
technician, who would wish to
retire voluntarily,” Chopra said.
“There are only two reasons
— one is they become physically
unable, so then they are not capable
to work, like numerous of our huge
artistes like Dilip Kumar, Shashi
Kapoor or Shammi Kapoor who
had become unfit physically, and
stopped working.
“And the other reason is if you
stop receiving work on the basis of
your age, it happens sometimes.
You can say I’m one of the lucky
ones that I’m still going on, and
still get the chance to come in some
films.”
Chopra has been one of the most
popular villains in Indian cinema
and worked in numerous films right
from the 1960s. Though work has
reduced, he has been seen in recent
films like I Love NY and Agent
Vinod.
The first look of Udanchoo with
Chopra seen as a ‘baba’ (godman),
was unveiled along with the tagline
of the film — Jo Jiska Tha Usko
Zaroor Milega, which Chopra said
was what they were earlier planning
as the film’s title.
“There is a big suspense in it.
It is a comedy thriller, but it has a
significant message in it as well,
like how the propaganda is going
on. The plot has been woven in an
interesting manner. The director
and the writer together created this
screenplay and script, and everyone
will enjoy the film. The film has
been made serious, but the base is
comedy,” he said.
About his role, he said: “It’s
a baba or a guruji, there are
numerous ‘bhakts’ and we take
care of the ‘bhakts’ and they take
care of us.”
Directed by Vipin Sharma, the
film stars Rajneesh Duggal, Sayesha
Sehgal, Ashutosh Rana, and Bruna
Abdullah among others. – IANS
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput,
who is preparing himself for the
upcoming biopic MS Dhoni — The
Untold Story, says he is “excited”
to work for his next venture with
filmmaker Homi Adajania.
It was earlier reported that
Sushant has been cast alongside
actor Irrfan Khan for Adajani’s next.
Sushant says he is Irrfan’s fan and
can’t wait to start working with
him. “I am big fan of his (Irrfan)
work. I am sure there is a lot I will
get to learn from him. Can’t wait
to start working with him,” said
the Kai Po Che star. Talking about
the newest addition to his kitty,
Sushant added: “It is a fantastic
script and this will also be the first
time I will work with Homi, which I
am very excited about.”
Sushant will be seen stepping
into the shoes of Indian cricket
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in
the Neeraj Pandey directorial.
The actor, who is being trained by
former Indian wicketkeeper Kiran
More for the role, reportedly injured
his ribs while practicing cricketer
Dhoni’s signature ‘helicopter’ shot.
— IANS
LOOKING FORWARD: Sushant Singh Rajput, left, and Irrfan Khan.
Dileep, Kavya Madhavan to
act in Adoor’s new film
ROPED IN: Dileep, left, and Kavya Madhavan
IN HER OWN WORDS: Aishwaryaa
R Dhanush
Celebrated filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who
has completed his golden jubilee in the Malayalam film
industry, has cast the popular Mollywood pair of Dileep
and Kavya Madhavan in his new film titled Pinneyum
that begins shooting on May 11.
Gopalakrishnan showcased the pair and said that he
always thinks differently and decided to feature them
in his new film, which is a love story with a difference
and one that will be devoid of conventional ingredients.
“The shoot will begin on May 11th in the capital city,”
said Adoor to reporters , but refused to reveal more
about the story.
Gopalakrishnan’s new one comes after a gap of eight
years, with the last one being Oru Pennum Randaanum
(A Climate for Crime), which was a 115-minute long
feature film released in 2008.
His career began in 1965 with a 20-minute short
fiction film titled A Great Day and since then he has
scripted and directed eleven feature films and about
thirty short films and documentaries. “I am very
excited with this new film and always wanted to act in a
film of Adoor and this came unexpectedly,” said Dileep.
Kavya said that the best thing while acting in a
Gopalakrishnan film that is one needs to be just blank
at the set.
“He (Gopalakrishnan) explains everything from start
to finish on what to do in a particular scene,” said a
happy Kavya.
Among the others who will don the grease paint
are Nedumudi Venu, Indirans, Vijayaraghavan and
KPAC Lalitha. M J Radhakrishnan is roped in as the
cinematographer for the film. The shooting is expected
to be completed in a month’s time. — IANS
18 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
HOLLYWOOD
‘I never wanted to ask
for help from anyone’
W
hen 17-year old
Aaron Paul arrived
in West Hollywood
to become an
actor, he knew he
had worlds to conquer. His mother
drove with him in his 1982 Toyota
Corolla, which had a trunk that
flooded in a downpour and no
second gear.
“My mom dropped me off,
moved me into this little studio,
and there was a shoot-out at the
Bank of America two blocks away,”
recalls Paul over lunch at a hotel
cafe here in Pasadena, California.
“We could hear the gunshots ....
Helicopters overhead. And my mom
is, of course, terrified. The first
night with her leaving, I thought,
‘OK, I’m an adult.’ But I was an
infant, really, with a lot to learn. I
think that first night changed me.”
In spite of his youthful optimism
it wasn’t going to get better soon.
Paul had saved $5,000 to make the
move. “That was the most money
I’d ever seen in my life. And it
went pretty quickly. ... I was living
on Top Ramen. You could get 10
packets for $1 back then.”
Nine months passed before
he wangled a job. “The first few
months were fine,” he says, taking
a bite of steak salad. “I had money
to pay the $500-a-month rent, but
quickly I had a roommate move in.
And one week I had the bed, and the
next week I had the walk-in closet.
But it was great,” he smiles.
He managed to line up some
commercials and was working as an
usher at the Universal City movie
theatre. “I did that simply because
I could watch movies for free and
I was on a fixed income. I got by
doing commercials,” he says. “You
just cross your fingers hoping you’d
make the cut. I think I’ve probably
done 30-plus commercials. I had
my ups and downs, but I was having
a great time. I was somewhat
fulfilling my dream. But I wanted
more.”
He got more all right, in a way
that would alter his life. Paul, 36,
landed the role of the flaky druggie
Jesse Pinkman in the now-classic
Breaking Bad. “Right before
Breaking Bad I was at my lowest low
in terms of doubting myself,” he
says, pausing, his fingers caressing
his water glass.
“I was barely paying my bills.
I had spent money from my
commercials. It costs money to live
in Los Angeles. I’m like, how can
I continue to go down this path of
my own personal dream? I never
wanted to ask for help from anyone.
This was MY dream so I wanted to
do it alone.”
But he couldn’t. “I remember
Actor Aaron Paul talks about his early days, the struggle and
pursuit of a dream, and the rocky path to stardom. By Luaine Lee
the day when I called my mom and
dad — it was very emotional for me
— and I asked them for help with
my rent. I know this was very hard
for them. It’s almost impossible for
them to say no, but it’s very hard for
them to say yes.
“So they ended up paying my
rent for three months. I knew
that was that. It was 1,200 bucks
a months, $3,600 and that was a
LOT of money for them. Then I got
a script sent to me by the name of
Breaking Bad. I read it and I knew
that was the role that was going to
change everything for me. So I just
gave it my all.”
The series was such a
phenomenal success that afterward
Paul vowed to take a break from
episodic television and concentrate
on film. After all, he’d performed in
seven pilots before he landed that
series. None of them were picked
up except Breaking Bad.
“At the time no one knew if it
would survive,” he recalls. “We saw
it at the Sony lot — this is before we
were picked up. We knew it was a
special script, we knew we had an
incredible experience shooting the
project, but you just never know.
Everything has to fall into place in
the most cosmic way. And it did.
Everyone was so emotional, jaws
on the floor. And when the credits
rolled we were just speechless and
we all knew our lives were going to
be changed.”
So how does he follow a flawless
effort like that? When his agent
told him about The Path, which
premieres on Hulu March 30, he
was reluctant. But he met with the
producers. “I had a great meeting
and walked out thinking, ‘I think
I’m going to pull the trigger. I think
I’m going to do it.’ Then I got cold
feet and ended up passing on it.”
He didn’t want to do another
series and was concerned that
people would compare it to
Breaking Bad. He needn’t have
worried. In The Path Paul plays a
conflicted husband, a convert to a
Scientology-like religion that tests
his commitment and faith.( “Two
days later, after a couple of sleepless
nights, I couldn’t stop thinking
about it. I was in the middle of
dinner and it was just internally
in my head, and I just interrupted
the conversation and said, ‘I have
to step outside and make a phone
call.’ I left and called my reps and
said, ‘Can we get this back?’ I put
BREAKTHROUGH: Aaron Paul, former star of Breaking Bad, plays a conflicted husband in Hulu’s thriller, The Path,
which begins streaming on March 30.
them through a little torture but
I’m so happy they didn’t give it to
somebody else.”
Jeremy Piven slams
typecasting
Jeremy Piven will be back as
the ingratiating Mr. Selfridge on
PBS. Playing a yank who thrives
in England, Piven says he sees a
difference between American and
British actors. “I think in the states
it’s almost like the casting directors
are Method,” he says. “They want
to find the authentic person who
IS the role. And I think in the UK
if they do something they’re going
to do it right. So they go to drama
school and log the hours and put
the time in so they find the actor to
PLAY the role. ”
Hugh Laurie slips
into the dark side
Hugh Laurie has definitely
hung up Dr House’s stethoscope
and finds himself digging deeper
than a cardiogram for his role in
John leCarre’s The Night Manager,
premiering this week on AMC.
“This is a man who has created
a world for himself where he can
operate unopposed, unchallenged,”
says Laurie. “And yes, he has given
way to the dark side in a very,
very big way. A very big way. He is
described in the story as ‘the worst
man in the world,’ which is a pretty
exciting challenge to take on as a
character to play, but a thrilling one
too ... — TNS
Friday, March 25, 2016
GULF TIMES 19
COMMUNITY
HOLLYWOOD
Jason Momoa teases
Justice League look
David Sandberg to
direct Annabelle 2
Justice League Part One
won’t release before 2017, but
actor Jason Momoa has already
unveiled his look for Aquaman
in the upcoming movie.
As the principal photography
will start next month, the
former Game of Thrones star has
dyed his hair blonde to prepare
to play the King of the Seven
Seas, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Momoa revealed his new
blonde hair in an Instagram
photograph that he shared. In
the image, he and his trainer
held a glass each. “Sometimes
you got to train your trainers.
He fixes me, I fix him,” Momoa
captioned the image.
The Justice League movie,
which will be split into two
parts, will be directed by Man of
Steel and Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice helmer Zack
Snyder. Besides Momoa, Ben
Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill
(Superman), Gal Gadot (Wonder
Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash)
and Ray Fisher (Cyborg) are
all set to star in the superhero
ensemble film.
Momoa and Gadot also
make appearance in Batman
v Superman, before the latter
toplines a Wonder Woman solo
movie. — IANS
Lights Out director David
Sandberg has been roped in to
helm the upcoming sequel to
2014 American supernatural
horror film Annabelle. The
film is slated to release on May
19, 2017, reports variety.com.
Annabelle, directed by John R
Leonetti, minted over $250mn in
worldwide grosses on a $6.5mn
budget as a spinoff from James
Wan’s 2013 hit The Conjuring.
The film’s storyline centered
on a possessed doll named
Annabelle, as described by
paranormal investigators Ed
and Lorraine Warren, and set
in California in 1969. Annabelle
starred Annabelle Wallis, Ward
Horton and Alfre Woodard.
The cast has not been set for
Annabelle 2.— IANS
FOR A CAUSE: Leonardo DiCaprio
DiCaprio flays climate
change deniers in the
race for US president
F
HAIR TODAY: Jason Momoa
Malik worried about
failing as solo artist
Former One Direction
member Zayn Malik is worried
about failing as a solo artist.
Malik fears he will not be
successful on his own and is
hoping for a “simple life” if
his music career doesn’t go as
planned, reports femalefirst.
co.uk.
“I think about all aspects
of the outcomes of what
is going to happen with
everything. I don’t know if
that’s just something in me,
or something that’s natural
with everybody. I tend to
think about that,” Complex
resh from his Oscarwinning role in The
Revenant, Leonardo
DiCaprio suggested
that his upcoming
documentary on climate change
could help raise awareness about
a phenomenon which some US
presidential candidates reject.
DiCaprio said one of the
collaborators for the film to be
released before the November
election was Fisher Stevens, a
producer of the 2010 Oscarwinning documentary The Cove
about dolphin-killing in the small
Japanese town of Taiji.
“We’ve been travelling around
the world documenting climate
change,” DiCaprio told a press
conference in Tokyo, adding they
magazine quoted Malik as
saying.
“It does worry me
sometimes, but all I can do
is what I’m doing right now.
Just go with it and try to hope
for the best. I’m enjoying it
right now, being creative. I’m
enjoying writing music and
doing this.
And if it doesn’t work out,
I would probably just live a
simple life,” he added. The
Pillowtalk hitmaker also plans
getting an English literature
degree and would love to take
a back seat after his debut
album, Mind of Mine, releases
so he can focus on his studies.
— IANS
visited China, India and the North
and South Poles.
Though he did not offer any
names, the star of Titanic and
The Wolf of Wall Street said some
candidates seeking the highest
US office are falling short in their
environmental attitudes.
“We should not have a candidate
who doesn’t believe in modern
science to be leading our country,”
he said.
“Climate change is one of the
most concerning issues facing all
humanity and the United States
needs to do its part.”
Republican front-runner Donald
Trump said last year he did not
believe in climate change, while his
key rival Ted Cruz has dismissed it
as “pseudo-scientific theory”.
FEAR OF FAILURE: Zayn Malik
DiCaprio, who attended the
COP21 climate change talks in Paris
last year, has been raising the alarm
on global warming since 1998 when
he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio
Foundation.
The organisation is involved in 78
projects on protecting biodiversity,
oceans conservation, wildlands
conservation and climate change,
according to its website.
The actor said The Revenant —
about a 19th century fur trapper
filmed under extreme winter
conditions in Canada and Argentina
— was “a turning point” for him
personally, in that he noticed how
much nature is changing. “I look
back on this time period with great
reflection and great concern as
well.” – AFP
AT THE HELM: David Sandberg
Iggy Azalea wants
to work with Kesha
Rapper Iggy Azalea is
desperate to work with singer
Kesha, so much so that she
is trying to "figure out" a
way to duet with the Tik Tok
hitmaker, who is unable to
release new music due to her
ongoing legal battle. "I'm
trying to do something with
Kesha. I'm trying to figure
out how I can make it work.
She's got a lot going on and
I really feel for her. I think
she's so awesome," Azalea
said. Azalea is particularly
keen to team up with her
good friend because she has
the "perfect song" for the
29-year-old singer's voice.
She says Kesha is just as keen
as she is for them to join
forces on a tune.
"We were talking the other
day on the phone and I was
like, 'I wish we would have
made a song sooner.' Nobody
anticipated this was going to
happen and I have the perfect
song for her and I'm trying to
figure out if there is a way I
can make this happen and so
is she. – IANS
20 GULF TIMES Friday, March 25, 2016
COMMUNITY
That 70s show
THROWBACK TO THE 70S: The ladies strike a pose at the event.
By Anand Holla
H
ippie headbands, funky
bellbottoms, flower
power motifs, tinted
vintage sunglasses, tied
dyed tees, flowing bead
necklaces – the signature 70s style
ensemble was executed down to a T
by the beautiful womenfolk gathered
at the Radisson Blu on Tuesday, to
celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
Tuesday Ladies Group (TLG).
Formed in February 1976, the TLG
in Doha first started off as the British
Ladies Coffee Morning. Having
grown from that, it has become an
international ladies group, now
boasting of women members from
26 countries. It is the longest running
women’s social club in Doha, set up
as a non-profit organisation. It is run
by a voluntary body drawn from its
own membership.
Driven by the theme of 70s –
unmistakably apparent in the cool
attires and accessories all around
– more than 100 women enjoyed a
Joanne Blakemore, left, and Dena McKay at the event.
brunch bundled with a bunch of fun
activities. The best dressed contest
saw prizes being awarded to the three
of the best dressed in the 70s verve.
A quiz on 70s music and happenings
witnessed passionate participation
from every table. The highlight
perhaps was the sumptuous brunch
buffet, making it hard for the ladies to
pick and choose from the vast spread.
Joanne Blakemore, Chairperson
of TLG, told Community, “It was
a wonderful celebration of the
friendship of women from various
countries. TLG is a huge international
group and this event was all about
recognising 40 years of a group that
has continued to participate in life
here in Qatar. You often come across
expats in Qatar who complain about
certain things. But this is a group that
welcomes life here, and embraces it.”
TLG, which meets at 9:30am on
alternate Tuesdays from September
to June at Radisson Blu, welcomes
all expat women – membership is
QR75 per year and then QR75 at
each meeting, including a breakfast
brunch, a chat and an interesting
speaker. TLG says it is privileged to
The ladies enjoying the anniversary brunch.
have had the Radisson Blu as one of
the main sponsors for more than 25
years, as even their Coffee Morning
meeting venue was always provided
by the hotel since the beginning of
TLG.
“Over the years TLG has helped
thousands of expatriate women by
being a resource for those new to
Qatar. We understand the expat life –
and we know that it can be a difficult
time being away from friends and
family. Our aim is to promote a
feeling of community and support
which will help you to settle into your
life in Qatar,” says a note by the TLG
about their group, adding, “We are
proud to support worthwhile projects
both within Doha and globally. We
pool our time and resources to help
where needed.”
Sandy O’Brien, a committee
member and an ex-chairperson,
said, “The aspect I value most about
TLG is that the organisation offers
expat women from different parts of
the world the opportunity to meet
and form meaningful and enduring
relationships with other women who
are experiencing similar challenges
being separated from family
members and familiar environments.
This sisterhood enhances the expat
journey, offering support, fun and
enriching activities, as well as
deepening the connection to Qatar
and all it has to offer.”
Shriani Burley, who is among
the long-standing TLG members,
said, “I have been a member of
TLG since I arrived in Qatar, 11
years ago. Joining TLG was the
best move I made as it’s here that I
made friends who made it so much
easier for me to settle my life in
Doha. The speakers that the group
usually invites at the meetings
gave us invaluable information and
advice; be it on defensive driving in
Qatar or local customs or exploring
interesting subjects such as how to
select carpets. When my husband
completed his first employment
contract after one and a half years
and we were about to leave Qatar,
it was one of the ladies I met in the
group who found him his current
employment, through her husband.
That’s what has enabled us to stay
on here, and for me to still be part of
this amazing group.”
According to TLG, “We encourage
information-sharing and the
creation of activity groups or clubs
that meet at other times to enable
members to develop new skills or to
share expertise with others.”