Community

P7
Community
Swasthi
Academy for
Excellence
promises to focus
on honing fine
talents to their
utmost limits.
P20
Community
Japanese
artist
Masakatsu
Sashie’s solo
exhibition will go on
display at the Anima
Gallery on May 9.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Rajab 22, 1437 AH
DOHA
25°C—38°C TODAY
PUZZLES 14 & 15
LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE 16
Jane, a hurricane
Centuries later,
the famous
writer continues
to inspire books,
clubs, movies
and more. P2-3
COVER
STORY
2
GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
No plain Jane
PRAYER TIME
Fajr
Shorooq (sunrise)
Zuhr (noon)
Asr (afternoon)
Maghreb (sunset)
Isha (night)
3.38am
5.00am
11.31am
3.00pm
6.05pm
7.35pm
The writer’s fiction is the basis for many film and TV
adaptations as well as the template for countless
rom-com movies or romance novels. Also, unlikely
mashups into the Austen universe, writes Tom Beer
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ote Unquote
u
Q The pen
is mightier than
the sword if the sword
is very short, and the pen is
very sharp.
— Terry Pratchett
Community Editor
Kamran Rehmat
e-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 44466405
Fax: 44350474
J
ane Austen (1775-1817)
isn’t just for English majors
anymore. The sharp-witted
author of six classic novels
including Pride and Prejudice
and Emma has entered the pop culture
domain — and just won’t leave. Today,
her fiction is the basis for many film
and TV adaptations (Jane made Colin
Firth an international star) as well as the
template for countless rom-com movies
or romance novels.
But perhaps the strangest
development is the unlikely mashups
— we’re looking at you, zombies —
that bring all manner of monsters and
other fantasy creatures into the Austen
universe. Here’s a roundup of some of
the most notable, not to mention the
most unlikely, Jane Austen remixes.
Metropolitan
Whit Stillman’s indie-film gem from
1990 is set among the debutantes and
upper-class toffs of ’80s Manhattan,
as observed by a middle-class
Princeton student who joins their
circle. A discussion of Mansfield Park
by the film’s characters makes explicit
Stillman’s homage to the author.
Stillman is still at it: In 2016 he will
release Love & Friendship, a film based
on an unfinished Austen story, along
with a companion novel.
Clueless
Amy Heckerling’s 1995 film is a
work of pop culture brilliance that has
attained classic status itself. Clueless
takes the know-it-all heroine of Emma
and transports her to a Beverly Hills
High School, dubs her Cher Horowitz
(Alicia Silverstone) and puts her in a
yellow plaid skirt suit, among other eyepopping outfits. We’re still watching it
more than two decades later.
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Helen Fielding’s 1998 novel about
a boozy weight-obsessed, chainsmoking, single girl on the loose in
contemporary London wears its Pride
and Prejudice credentials on its sleeve.
There’s even a character named Mark
Darcy, played in the hit 2001 movie
by Colin Firth, the swoon-worthy Mr.
Darcy of the 1995 BBC miniseries.
The Jane Austen Book Club
In 2004, Karen Joy Fowler (whose last
book was a Man Booker Prize finalist)
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
3
COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
wrote this clever riff on Jane Austen
and Austenmania. The book club
of the title is composed of five
women and one man, and readers
follow their monthly discussions
of Austen’s novels and see the
contemporary resonances in the
characters’ lives — and our own.
Skip the forgettable 2007 movie.
Lost In Austen
Don’t call Emma Campbell
Webster’s Lost in Austen a novel:
This 2007 book is an interactive
Create Your Own Jane Austen
Adventure, an homage both to Pride
and Prejudice and to the Choose
Your Own Adventure books with
their multiple possible storylines.
You, the reader, are Elizabeth
Bennet, and “your mission is to
marry both prudently, and for love”
— with the help of Confidence and
Intelligence points (but no Fortune
or Accomplishments). Now go.
Pride and Prejudice and
Zombies
This 2009 novel is the ultimate
mash-up — into verbatim passages
of the 1813 classic, author Seth
Grahame-Smith has inserted a
legion of the undead to stalk the
poor put-upon Bennet sisters. The
2016 movie version features plenty
of ladies in Empire-waist frocks
swinging swords and busting out
martial arts moves. Newsday film
critic Rafer Guzmán called it “an
unexpected treat.”
Jane Austen’s Fight Club
Jane Austen, meet Chuck
Pahluniuk. In this hilarious threeplus-minute YouTube clip, life
for Austen’s Regency heroines has
“become an endless surrender to
propriety” — until, that is, Lizzie
shows up and instigates the Fight
Club of the title. The rules are simple:
“No corsets. No hat pins. No crying.”
Other than that, anything goes.
Death Comes to Pemberley
The last novel published by
English crime writer P.D. James
before her death in 2014, Death
Comes to Pemberley is — naturally —
a mystery set six years after the end
of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and
Darcy are married, and sister Lydia’s
husband, Wickham, is accused
of a murder. Reviewing it for
Newsday, Ed Siegel praised James’
“graceful writing” but knocked the
“lifelessness of its characters.”
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
“Who am I? I am a 24-year-old
grad student with a mountain of
student loans, living at home and
preparing for a career. But to my
mom, the only thing that matters is
that I’m single. My name is Lizzie
Bennet, and this is my life.” So
begins this 100-part web series
created by Bernie Su, and narrated
vlog-style by actress Ashley
Clements. The P&P gang is all here,
including Jane, Lydia, William
Darcy and Bing Lee.
Longbourn
Jo Baker’s 2013 novel — which
cleverly tells the Bennet family
story from the perspective of
the household servants — is
“no mere riff,” wrote Wendy
Smith in her Newsday review,”
but a fully imagined rejoinder to
Pride and Prejudice that casts a
sharp working-class eye on the
aristocratic antics of Elizabeth
Bennet, Mr. Darcy and their
friends.” Austen, she concludes,
would approve.
Marrying Mr. Darcy
Wherever Austen fans intersect
with hard-core gamers, you’ll find
them playing this card game created
by Erika Svanoe with art by Erik
Evensen. Between 2-6 players take
the roles of Pride and Prejudice’s
marriageable young ladies,
collecting points (via character
cards) and vying for eligible
bachelors through the courtship
and proposal stages of the game.
Undead and Emma expansions are
available.
Eligible
Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel
recasts Pride and Prejudice in 21stcentury Cincinnati, making Lizzie
a 38-year-old writer-at-large
for a women’s magazine, Darcy a
brain surgeon and “Chip” Bingley
the star of a Bachelor-style reality
show. It’s the latest installment
in The Austen Project, which has
tapped contemporary authors to
update Austen’s six classics. To date
we’ve had Joanna Trollope’s Sense
and Sensibility, Val McDermid’s
Northanger Abbey and Alexander
McCall Smith’s Emma. —Newsday/
TNS
4
GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
BODY & MIND
Can an aspirin a day keep
heart attacks at bay?
By Allie Shah
M
innesota doctors
welcomed recent
US federal health
guidelines on daily
use of low-dose
aspirin to prevent heart attacks and
strokes. The new advice (as per US
health guidelines) — which spells
out by age and risk who is likely to
benefit from taking an 81 milligrampill a day — is clear and helpful,
many doctors say.
“We’ve had a lot of patients who
decided for whatever reason on
their own to start taking aspirin,”
said Dr Rae Ann Williams, who
specialises in internal medicine at
HealthPartners’ Como Clinic in St
Paul. “This recommendation really
helps us tailor that recommendation
and have a much better conversation
with patients about whether or not
they are at high risk, and help guide
them in their decision-making.”
Numerous studies have shown
that taking a low-dose aspirin a day
can prevent a heart attack or stroke,
leading causes of death and disability
in the United States. But for some
people, the risks associated with
following a daily aspirin regimen
— including stomach bleeding and
allergic reactions to aspirin — may
outweigh the benefits.
So how can you tell if you are a
good candidate for daily aspirin use?
Here’s what the new guidelines,
developed by the US Preventive
Services Task Force, advise:
A daily low-dose aspirin is
recommended for those adults
50-59 whose life expectancy is at
least a decade and who have a 10%
or higher chance of a heart attack
or other cardiovascular event. They
also must have only an average risk
for stomach bleeding.
Adults 60-69 with a similar risk
profile are advised to consult their
doctor about possible daily aspirin
use.
Taking an aspirin daily was not
recommended for adults younger
NEW VISTAS: US federal health guidelines on aspirin usage to prevent heart attacks were recently released.
than 50 or older than 69.
The new guidelines are precise,
said Dr Alan Hirsch, a cardiologist
and University of Minnesota
professor who is helping spearhead
a statewide public health campaign
called “Ask About Aspirin.”
“This is somewhat clearer and
more data-driven than the previous
ones,” he said referring to earlier
recommendations. “This guideline
creates a simple middle-age (50-59)
A large network of friends may
help take your pain away
People with more friends are likely to
have higher pain tolerance, says a research
suggesting that the quantity and quality of
our social relationships affect our physical
and mental health and may even be a factor
determining how long we live.
Experts looked into endorphins — a chemical
in the brain and the human body’s natural
painkillers that also give us feelings of pleasure.
The researchers hypothesised that endorphins
have a powerful pain-killing effect — stronger
even than morphine — and used pain tolerance
range for which the green light and
red light are clear.”
It also reinforces a central message
of the campaign: Know your risk and
talk to your doctor.
The campaign’s goal over the next
five years is to support the state’s
heart disease and stroke prevention
plan by making sure federal
recommendations on aspirin are
easy to use, for patients and doctors
alike.
as a way to assess the brain’s endorphin
activity.
Friendships boost endorphins in the body
and these are well known for acting as our
body’s natural painkillers.
“One theory, known as ‘the brain opioid
theory of social attachment’, is that social
interactions trigger positive emotions when
endorphin binds to opioid receptors in the
brain,” said Katerina Johnson, doctoral student
at the Oxford University in Britain.
“This gives us that feel-good factor that
we get from seeing our friends,” she added in
the paper published in the journal Scientific
“Just like immunisation for kids
and air bags, it’s easy to get lost in
complexities of recommendations,”
Hirsch said. “Prevention needs to be
made easy.”
DIY ASSESSMENT
To that end, the campaign in
US includes an interactive website
(askaboutaspirin.umn.edu) with
a self-assessment tool that allows
people to find out what their risks
Reports. The results showed that both fit
people and those with higher reported stress
levels tended to have smaller social networks.
“Individuals that spend more time exercising
have less time to see their friends. However,
since both physical and social activities
promote endorphin release, perhaps some
people use exercise as an alternative means
to get their ‘endorphin rush’ rather than
socialising,” Johnson noted.
The findings relating to stress may indicate
that larger social networks help people to
manage stress better, or it may be that stress or
its causes mean people have less time for social
are and answer questions to help
determine whether aspirin is
something they should consider
taking regularly.
However, for those who are
older or younger than the group
highlighted in the new guidelines,
questions linger.
Jerry Weld, 82, said he wasn’t sure
whether he should keep taking his
daily aspirin pill after he heard about
the latest advice from the federal
task force. “It wasn’t clear for my age
group,” he said.
Weld started taking aspirin after
he’d had a heart stent put in and his
health providers recommended it, he
said. The new recommendations are
for people who haven’t had previous
heart issues, Williams said.
Hirsch pointed out that the
guidelines don’t say NOT to take a
daily baby aspirin if you’re younger
than 50 or older than 60. They simply
state that there isn’t enough data
to support a recommendation for
people outside the 50-59 age range.
“Because it doesn’t really tell you
what to do below 50 or after 59, I do
fear it creates confusion,” he said.
“So my worry is that this guideline
doesn’t accurately say what every
Minnesota primary physician and
cardiologist knows, which is it really
is a continuum of risk by age and risk
factors.”
Williams echoed that concern.
She predicted there will be plenty
of patients over 70 wondering what
they should do.
“(US Federal authorities are) not
saying one way or another, but it
does leave a little bit of a question
there,” she said.
That just means that doctors
like her will have to make a point
of talking to their patients about
their aspirin questions, weighing
the overall risks against benefits,
before deciding what to do. “The
best thing about this is it gives us
much more clear recommendations
that we can give to our patients to
have an intentional conversation
about whether daily aspirin is right
for them,” she said. — Star Tribune/
TNS
activity, shrinking their network.
“These results are also interesting because
recent research suggests that the endorphin
system may be disrupted in psychological
disorders such as depression. This may be part
of the reason why depressed people often suffer
from a lack of pleasure and become socially
withdrawn,” Johnson said.
“As a species, we’ve evolved to thrive in a
rich social environment but in this digital era,
deficiencies in our social interactions may be
one of the overlooked factors contributing to
the declining health of our modern society,”
Johnson concluded. — IANS
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
5
COMMUNITY
BODY & MIND
E-cigarettes may do more benefit than harm: Experts
A team of international tobacco control experts has found that use of
e-cigarettes can reduce overall smoking as well as potentially decrease the
mortality rates particularly arising out of cigarette smoking. The findings
showed that e-cigarettes have the potential to counteract health risks and
may do more benefit than harm.
Also, the evidence suggests a strong potential for e-cigarettes use to
improve population health by reducing or displacing cigarette use in
countries where cigarette prevalence is still high and smokers are interested
in quitting. “While e-cigarettes may act as a gateway to smoking, much
of the evidence indicates that e-cigarette use encourages cessation
from cigarettes by those people who would have otherwise smoked with
or without e-cigarettes,” said lead researcher David Levy, professor at
Georgetown University in the US.
However, the experts’ estimated that exclusive e-cigarette use is
associated with about five percent of the mortality risks of smoking.
Research shows that cigarette smoking rates have fallen more in the last
two years than they have in the previous four or five years in the US,
Canada and England, and that this trend has coincided with the increase in
e-cigarette use.
“We believe that the discussion to date has been slanted against
e-cigarettes, which is unfortunate, because the big picture tells us that
these products appear to be used mostly by people who already are or who
are likely to become cigarette smokers,” Levy added.
In the study, published online in the journal Addiction, seven top
international tobacco control experts have prompted regulators at the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have a broad “open-minded”
perspective when it comes to regulating vaporised nicotine products,
especially e-cigarettes.
The team synthesised much of the evidence published to date on
e-cigarettes to suggest that use of these products can lead to reduced
cigarette smoking overall with a potential reduction in deaths from
cigarette smoking.
The team also warned that heavy regulation and taxation of e-cigarettes
will counteract the benefit that these products can provide.
“We don’t want to encourage e-cigarette use by youth and young adults
who would not have otherwise smoked. However, the primary aim of
tobacco control policy should be to discourage cigarette use while providing
the means for smokers to more easily quit smoking, even if that means
switching for some time to e-cigarettes rather than quitting all nicotine
use,” the researchers noted. — IANS
Consuming rice may put infants
at higher urinary arsenic risk
Beware, if you are feeding your infant with rice or rice products!
According to a new study, infants who eat rice and rice products are likely
to have higher urinary arsenic concentrations than those who do not
consume any type of rice.
The findings based on urine samples showed that arsenic concentrations
were higher among infants who ate rice or foods mixed with rice compared
with infants who ate no rice. Also, the total urinary arsenic concentrations
were twice as high among infants who ate white or brown rice compared
with those who ate no rice.
The highest urinary arsenic concentrations were seen among infants who
ate baby rice cereal. Urinary arsenic concentrations were nearly double for
those who ate rice snacks compared with infants who ate no rice.
“Our results indicate that consumption of rice and rice products
increases infants’ exposure to arsenic and that regulation could reduce
exposure during this critical phase of development,” said lead researcher
Margaret R Karagas, from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
College in US.
Further, other dietary sources of arsenic, such as apple juice, may further
contribute to urinary arsenic concentrations. Arsenic exposure in utero and
early in life may be associated with adverse effects on foetal growth, and on
infant and child immune and neurodevelopment outcomes, the researchers
warned.
For the study, published online by JAMA Pediatrics, the team examined
the frequency with which infants consumed rice and rice-containing
products in their first year of life, as well as the association it had with the
arsenic concentrations in the urine. — IANS
Use of hearing aids ups cognitive function in elderly
A
team of US researchers, including
an Indian-origin scientist, has
found that older adults who
used a hearing aid performed
significantly better on cognitive
tests than those who did not use a hearing aid
despite having poorer hearing.
The findings showed that hearing aids
can keep older adults with hearing loss more
socially engaged, prevent the development of
dementia as well as slow down the effects of
ageing on cognitive function.
In contrast, elderly people who are hearing
impaired and do not use a hearing aid are at
an increased risk of sensory-specific decline
in mental skills. “We know that hearing aids
can keep older adults with hearing loss more
socially engaged by providing an important
bridge to the outside world,” said Anil
Lalwani, professor and otolaryngologist at
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC)
in the US.
In the study, published online in the
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, the
researchers wanted to determine if they could
also slow the effects of ageing on cognitive
function.
The team included 100 adults with hearing
loss between the ages of 80 and 99. Of the
participants, 34 regularly used a hearing aid.
Audiometry tests were performed to measure
the degree of hearing loss. Cognitive and
executive functions of the participants were
also assessed.
“Our study suggests that using a hearing
aid may offer a simple, yet important, way to
prevent or slow the development of dementia
by keeping adults with hearing loss engaged
in conversation and communication,”
Lalwani explained. – IANS
6
GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
CUISINE
Kebabs that melt
in your mouth
Y
es you read it right a
kebab that melts in
your mouth. This kebab
is none other than the
royal Galouti Kebab.
The origin of Galouti Kebab is
Lucknow, where the local cuisine is
known for its delicate taste, exotic
spices and cooking methods. The
Lucknow city was ruled by nawabs
for hundreds of years and is also
called the city of nawabs. The
Awadhi cuisine can be called an
Indian-inspired Persian cuisine.
The luxurious lives of nawabs
reflected in the way they lived
and also how they preferred to
eat. The cooking techniques used
were often slow cooking, labourintensive and spiced with exotic
and rare spices.
A long-time back, I was to
prepare food for a member of
the royal family of Awadh. I
was briefed earlier by the royal
family member about the food
preparation. The dish I was
supposed to prepare was Dal Asarfi,
which is slow simmered chana dal
with a gold Asarfi — a real gold
coin. The reason why real gold
is boiled with dal is to add some
amount of gold to the dal so that it
enhances the taste and medicinal
value of the dal. The gold coin is
removed and stored before the dal
is served. I was truly impressed and
mesmerised with the richness in
Awadhi food preparation.
There is a story about the origin
of Galouti Kebab — that one of
the ruler of Lucknow lost all of his
teeth but was so heavy that it was
difficult to find a horse to support
him. The nawab instructed his
cooks to create a delicate and soft
kebab that could be eaten without
teeth. Galawat comes from ‘gala’
means soft enough to swallow.
Thus the Galouti Kebab came
into existence using the best cuts
of meat that were meticulously
pounded along with a tenderiser,
exotic spices and herbs. The
Galouti Kebab is tenderised using
papaya, which makes it soft and
smooth as butter. Traditionally
these kebabs are so soft that you
can’t even pick a piece with your
hands and eat; so they are served
on khasta roti, a soft enriched
wheat bread. There are many chefs
who vouch that they use over
hundred spices to make this exotic
kebab.
There is a kebab shop in
Lucknow that vouches for the
origin of this kebab and also insists
that their ancestors created the
recipe. The shop’s name is Tunde
Ke Kebab, which translates to a
kebab prepared by someone with a
physical disability. The shop sells
Cardamom powder 1/3 tsp
Ghee to fry
For smoking
Coal 1 piece
Clove 3-4 nos
Green cardamom 2-3 pods
Dried mint powder 1/3 tsp
For garnish
Lemon wedge 4-5 no
Onion rings to garnish
Galouti Kebab.
the Galouti Kebab and is a very
popular destination among the
locals and tourists.
Although I have never
travelled to Lucknow myself and
experienced the authentic Awadhi
cuisine, my father always brought
me a parcel from Tunde Ke Kebab
whenever he visited the city. It is
not easy to describe those kebabs
in words — they are so tender and
Photo by the author
soft that they simply melt once
placed in your mouth. The flavour
itself is so exotic and different from
the usual kebabs.
Galouti Kebab
Ingredients
Lamb leg 1 kg
Ginger 50 gm
Garlic 50 gm
Raw papaya 50 gm
Fried onion paste 3 tbsp
Butter 3 tbsp
Kashmiri chili powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Black pepper ¼ tsp
Mace powder ¼ tsp
Nutmeg powder ¼ tsp
Cinnamon powder ¼ tsp
Clove powder ¼ tsp
Saffron few strands
Method
Take the lamb leg meat and
marinate with ginger, garlic,
papaya paste, fried onion paste,
salt and pepper.
In a separate pan combine
Kashmiri chili powder, mace
powder, nutmeg powder, cinnamon
powder, clove powder, saffron, dry
mint powder, cardamom powder,
salt and pepper and mix well to
combine.
Add the prepared spice into the
marinated meat and pass through
meat mincer.
Pass again through meat mincer
using smaller whole sieve.
Repeat if you have a smaller
sized sieve or pass through same
sieve to make the paste smooth and
fine.
Place the mixture in a widebase pan and spread the mixture,
leaving a space in the middle.
Place a steel cup in the middle
and place a smouldering charcoal
in it.
Place cloves and cardamom
pods over it and pour 1 tbsp ghee to
flavour the meat with smoke from
spices.
Cover with aluminium foil or air
tight lid so that the smoke does not
escape the pan; leave aside for 10
minutes.
Divide the meat into equal sized
balls and flatten them to make
kebabs.
Heat ghee over low flame in a
heavy bottom pan and shallow fry
the kebabs.
Do not cook over high heat as
the kebabs should be cooked over
slow flame only to keep them soft
and juicy.
Once the kebabs are cooked from
both sides, serve hot with choice
of bread, onion rings and lemon
wedge.
Note: although the authentic
Galouti Kebab recipe calls for lamb
meat you can also replace it with
chicken if this is what you prefer.
z Tarun Kapoor is executive chef
at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel.
Send your feedback to:
[email protected]
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
7
COMMUNITY
Colourful event marks Swasthi
Academy for Excellence’s launch
IN SYNC: The programme featured a range of dance such as the Ganesha contemporary dance, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, and a semi-classical dance.
By Anand Holla
I
f one had any questions about the
quality and level of performing art
that the new Swasthi Academy for
Excellence offers, their colourful
launch event provided all the answers
in fine style.
Unlike the half a dozen performing
art institutes in Qatar, the Academy, by
Malayalam film actress Lakshana, promises
to be different in how focused it aspires to
be when it comes to honing fine talents to
their utmost limits. The institution, located
close to Cambridge School in Abu Hamour,
seeks to promote talent in children and
young adults in Qatar and was inaugurated
by South Indian actress Navya Nair, last
weekend.
As part of the launch, Nair held a special
dance and talent workshop at Birla Public
School – a tantalising sample of the training
courses in dance, music, arts, yoga and
personal development that the Academy has
on offer. The launch programme ended with
a special evening function at the school with
Malayalam superstar Suresh Gopi as the
chief guest.
The event was attended by dignitaries
such as Dr Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank;
doctor-educationist-philanthropist Dr
Mohan Thomas; Girish Kumar, President of
Indian Cultural Centre; Swasthi Academy
Chairman Hassan al-Baker; Swasthi
Academy Directors Dr Sajith Pillai and
KRG Pillai; apart from actresses Nair and
Lakshana, of course. The ceremony was
followed by dance and music performances,
many among the artistes being students.
Lakshana told Community, “We had
certainly planned for a sparkling launch
event but the outcome surpassed our
expectations. Everything went really well
and we had a lot of people come up to us
and say that they haven’t seen this kind of
programme in Doha.”
That comment wouldn’t surprise
many. There was a wide range of well-coordinated dance and music acts on display.
“From the Ganesha contemporary dance to
Bharatanatyam, from me joining six girls in a
semi-classical dance to Kathak, Odissi, and
a Kerala fusion song, we packed in the best
of what we could present.”
LAMP LIGHTING: Malayalam superstar Suresh Gopi lights the ceremonial lamp at the launch event.
Interestingly, the Chief Guest Gopi
received confirmation of his formal
appointment as Member of Parliament
to Rajya Sabha – the upper house of the
Parliament of India – while he was on stage
at the event.
Being a passionate dancer, Lakshana
was destined to flag off this institute in
Doha. “I have always had a passion for
dance. As a trained classical dancer, I would
perform Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam and
Kuchipudi. So I wanted to make use of these
dance forms in my life. After my marriage, I
spoke to my husband Sajith about my dream
to help others who are talented, and we
began wondering how we could make this
happen,” she said.
Having developed some good connections
in the film industry that she used to work
in, Lakshana spoke with her co-stars about
her idea to start such an institute. “They all
said that they will support me through this.
‘You just start and we will all come down
and give lessons to the kids’, they said. I
felt encouraged. Then, I discussed with my
husband and we decided we should start this
institute. It’s not as much for business as
it is for my passion as I would really love to
develop young talents into realising their full
potential,” she explained.
“I often see kids performing well but they
lack a strong foundation,” Lakshana said,
“So I wanted to start an initiative where we
facilitate good training for the young so that
they strengthen their base in that art form,
which is key. I want to be part of building a
new, good world with good talent.”
The institute offers training in a range
of art forms such as classical dance
(Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi,
Kerala Nadanam); folk dance; western dance;
Bollywood; Zumba; tango; salsa; Carnatic
music vocals; Western instrumentals like
guitar, violin, drums and keyboard; and also
yoga and wellness classes.
Lakshana said, “We are emphasising that
our yoga classes are for all ages. From kids
to moms and housewives, anybody can
enrol. We are recommending yoga classes
for children who are learning dancing so
that they can become better dances due
to increased flexibility at an early age. As
for admissions, we are receiving a lot of
enquiries. The word of mouth has been
great.” The Academy will begin classes from
the second week of May.
8
GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
TRAVEL
Let there be light at
Museum of Neon Art
ARTEFACTS FROM THE PAST: The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California, features vintage neon signs from the golden age of signage.
By Sam McManis
T
wo people stood sideby-side in a museum
gallery, necks craned
upward at a 3-foot-high,
neon-lit martini glass.
I stood a respectable 4 feet
behind them, far enough not to
come off as stalkerish to these
people of a certain age, but close
enough to eavesdrop on their
animated conversation. Shamefully,
this is what I occasionally do when
I’m on the clock and pounding the
travel beat.
Man: “See that cocktail glass on
top?”
Woman: “Oh, yes. Beautiful.”
Man: “Isn’t that marvellous?
That reminds me when I was in
San Francisco during the war. My
buddies and I were on leave and we
went into this alleyway and saw just
a neon cocktail glass like that, but
no name, or nothing, on the door.
We opened the door. We looked in.
We said, ‘Let’s get out of here.’ “
Woman: “Really bad news?”
Man: “Oh, you wouldn’t believe.”
It was at this point that I politely
interposed myself. These visitors
to the Museum of Neon Art, the
only conventional museum in the
world “devoted exclusively to art in
electric media,” really seemed taken
with the array of neon signs flashing
and glowing and occasionally
moving in the dimly lit space.
In fact, it seemed almost every
piece on display, everything from
salvaged roadside motel marquees
to elaborate kinetic signs on
service stations, led to passionate
reveries of time past and memories
rekindled.
“That’s totally what neon does
to you,” said Carole Koenig of Los
Angeles, roaming the galleries one
recent Saturday with friend Allan
Shatkin, he of the martini-glass
anecdote. “It welcomes you in. It
beckons. You can’t resist it. The
designs are so amazing. Every single
one of them has meaning attached
to them.”
To prove her thesis, Koenig
paused before several framed
photographs of glowing motel
signs and launched into a Proustian
childhood memory from a trip from
Los Angeles to Northern California,
with a stop at a roadside motel
somewhere near Bakersfield.
“We saw a neon sign with a
chicken crossing the road, and we
were so tired my father decided we
had to stop,” she said. “It was called
the Chicken Inn. It was the biggest
dump in the world. We sat on the
bed, and the bed fell down. You
turned on the faucet, and the faucet
broke off. There was just a piece of
Friday, April 29, 2016
9
COMMUNITY
TRAVEL
cardboard separating my sister and
my room and our parents’ room.
That was it. I remember my father
saying, ‘Good night, kids. Close the
cardboard now.’
The next day, on the way out, my
dad said to the clerk, ‘We’re paying
now.’ The clerk asks him, ‘How was
your stay, sir?’ My father said, ‘This
is the Chicken Inn, right? Well,
we’re Chicken Out real fast.’ “
To neon aficionados, the flashy
signs and often elaborate figurative
representations, such as the
becapped female bather in midswan dive that graces the MONA
roof, are more than just a trigger
for baby-boomer nostalgia. No,
they consider it a legitimate, if
undervalued, art form. Its origins
at the turn of the 20th century
may have been first scientific —
“Hey, what would happen if we ran
this neon gas through a test tube
and applied electricity?” — then
employed for commercial purposes
to draw the eye of people cruising
by in automobiles, but at some
point beyond neon’s consumer
heyday in the 1960s it gained an
appreciation by pop-art aesthetes.
This resurgence of interest
in neon signs by the art world
comes at the same time that the
old-school signs have largely
been subsumed by large, square
and bland LED signs and electric
billboards that, to many, is an
ocular assault more than an inviting
blaze of eye-popping colour.
Let’s face it, the expressed
purpose of both neon signs of old
and the current incarnation of
lit advertising is to sell, sell, sell.
But once the business attached
to the neon image is long gone,
you can appreciate the image
outside its original context. A Los
Angeles business named “Clayton
Plumbers” may be long gone, but
people stop and gawk at the 30-foot
sign in MONA’s courtyard. Electric
blue drops lead down to a splat of
GULF TIMES
white, and the words inside each of
the drops proclaim:
The
Leak
Stops
Here!
To Eric Evavold, the museum’s
vice president, neon is a valued
form of folk art. It’s Americana
writ large and lit brightly. He is not
surprised by the renewed interest
in neon. (In addition to the Los
Angeles museum, which has been
open since 1981 in various locations,
there is a “boneyard” of erstwhile
huge casino and hotel neon signs
preserved in a large lot in downtown
Las Vegas. In Miami, an interactive,
immersible “Motelscape” literally
bathes visitors in neon. Jay-Z even
name-checks New York neon artist
Dan Flavin in the video for “Onto
the Next One.”)
“It’s one of the cultural threads
that makes up the American
experience,” he said. “It pulls us
together. It’s how we lit Route 66
and our highways. ‘EAT!’ You had
that one word flashing. Neon was a
way to get people out.
“People take it personally. For
me, it’s like that. My father used to
drive me around town. He owned
a business at the produce mart (in
downtown LA). Just seeing this lore
and this quality at night affected
me. When the sun finally set, pop,
there was that colour lighting up
the night sky. It didn’t seem so dark
anymore.”
Los Angeles, known for its glitz,
seems a logical choice for a museum
dedicated to neon. Evavold said
some wonder why Times Square
in New York or the Las Vegas strip
didn’t get the nod. His answer is
simple. The first neon sign in the
United States illuminated a Packard
car dealership in downtown LA in
1923. It was a simple design, the
word Packard in cursive script, but
it caused a sensation.
“The (Packard) owner, Earl C
Anthony, had gone to a style show
in Paris where neon was displayed
and brought it here,” Evavold
said. “A lot of people have the
misconception that neon started
on Broadway in New York City. It
actually started right off Broadway
in LA.”
Appreciators of neon art can be
serious about the form – works
by Flavin and others sell for major
coin, high six figures – but many
also will admit their interest runs
toward nostalgia and a certain
kitsch value.
“There’s a retro classy element
to it, I think,” said Koenig, the
“Chicken Inn” visitor. “It decorates
the night sky, when you think about
it. Remember driving into Vegas at
night? There’s nothing, nothing,
and then there’s that glow that
almost makes it seem like you’ve
arrived on Mars.
“It’s the animation factor, too.
These things most often flash and
go off and move. It’s so much more
individual. Think about it. You’ve
Museum of Neon Art
Where: 216 South Brand Blvd.,
Glendale
Hours: Noon to 7pm Fridays
and Saturdays; noon to 5pm
Sundays
Cost: $8 general, $5 students
and seniors, free for ages 12 and
under
More information: www.newneonmona.org
got letters and a specific message.
It’s not like the illuminated
billboards we have now. It doesn’t
hit you over the head with overt
selling like today’s billboards. I
mean, when you see a neon cocktail
glass, you’ve got to go in and have a
cocktail, no matter what. You have
to.”
“Except,” her friend Shatkin
interjected, “when there’s no name
on it and it’s in an alley.” — The
Sacramento Bee/TNS
10 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
TV AWARD
Entertainment pitch must
TOP SHOTS: The night belonged to Diyar e Dil. Maya Ali and Osman Khalid Butt receive their award for Best Actor Female and
Male, respectively.
Photos by M Haris Usmani
By Muhammad Asad Ullah
H
UM Awards, one of Pakistan’s
most coveted TV entertainment
shows, held its fourth edition
recently with the glitterati in full
attendance.
The most beguiling cogitated golden
statue of Pakistan was hosted in Karachi
early this week after a triumphant show in
Dubai last year.
To aptly employ a cliché, we’ve seen
Pakistan television industry grow from a
hatchling to a swan. From the legendary
Nadeem Baig, Samina Pirzada and Behroz
Sabzwari to a new breed ruling television
screens not only in Pakistan but across the
ON SONG: Pakistani pop icon Atif Aslam, also a coveted singer in
Bollywood, performing at the show.
Maya Ali’s and Osman Khalid Butt’s
stars appear set in motion. From being
a show host to honing acting skills
over the years, the former might have
exhibited determination, but she still
needs to achieve finesse. On the other
hand, Osman Khalid Butt, who has done
theatre and is known for the parody
videos he started on YouTube, gels well
with the character he portrays
border as well: Mahira Khan, Sanam Saeed
and Hamza Ali Abbassi to name a few, it was
a star studded affair with a mixed bag of
entertainment.
The long lines of traffic which patently
took everyone hours just to enter the venue
was a sweeping snag for the management
to start the show past two hours of the
timeline.
From sophisticated and subtle humour
of the hosts to the jhatkas and matkas
of Lollywood beauties on Bollywood hit
numbers, HUM reinforced its image of
family entertainment sans crass content.
Although Hamza Ali Abbassi and Ayesha
Khan didn’t quite cut it with their on-stage
chemistry, Ahmed Ali Butt held the fort
again with his humour after performing to
singer Taher Shah’s Angel at the ARY Film
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
11
COMMUNITY
DS REVIEW
be matched by substance
Awards in Dubai earlier this month.
Hamza attempted to crack several jokes
that were met mostly with silence from the
audience, and Ayesha looked like she would
rather be somewhere else.
Due to technical glitches, the Awards did
not run as smoothly as expected since the
start when supermodel and actress Nadia
Hussain took over the stage to announce the
Best Male and Female model.
Although actress Sohai Ali Abro — dressed
in a vintage orange lehnga choli — is a really
good dancer, it’s nearly impossible to follow
Deepika’s ethereal Bajirao act. Not the best
idea to have tried. Where many bristle at
Bollywood hit numbers in a Pakistani award
show, may be there’s a need to rethink if the
home industry has produced music
worth the award show this year (until now,
that is).
One could always censure why Lollywood
must dance to Bollywood’s tunes but there
is no denying the latter’s influence in the
Pakistani pop culture and more so in the
entertainment arena.
Where actors Ahsan Khan and Mehwish
Hayat are considered regular when it comes
to performing, the latter chose Pakistani
songs from the hit film Bin Roye to perform a
duet with top actor Humayun Saeed.
For Mahira Khan — the only mother to
have played the female lead in both Indian
(Raees) and Pakistani (Ho Mann Jahan and
Bin Roye) films — it was much harder to
match the grace she offers on-screen.
The final dance performance of the
evening was by Mawra Hocaine, the latest
Pakistani entrant in Bollywood (Sanam Teri
Kasam), with her sister Urwa.
Introducing the film category awards,
it was predictable enough for Humayun
Saeed and Mahira Khan to win the award for
Bin Roye — produced under the banner of
HUM itself —whilst sharing the award with
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat for Manto and Sania
Saeed for Manto as well.
Mahira won the honours for Diyar-e-Dil
— like she had the previous year for Sadqe
Tumhare. Diyar-e-Dil had received critical
acclaim worldwide winning 12 awards out of
a total of 21 in television category, the most
for the ceremony, including, Best Drama
Serial – Jury; Best Drama Serial – Popular;
Best Director, Best Actress – Popular;
Best Actor – Jury; Best Actor – Popular;
Best Supporting Actor; Most Impactful
Character; Best Writer; and Best Original
Soundtrack.
That said, HUM Network needs to
revamp the merit for nominations and jury
selections. There endure many prominent
names who performed superfluous
characters.
Maya Ali’s and Osman Khalid Butt’s
stars appear set in motion. From being a
show host to honing acting skills over the
years, the former might have exhibited
determination, but she still needs to achieve
finesse. Although she won the Best Actress
Award (Popular), when you watch the show,
you find her expressions are pretty much
one-dimensional.
On the other hand, Osman Khalid Butt,
who has done theatre and is known for the
parody videos he started on YouTube, gels
well with the character he portrays. As for
Best Actor (Jury) who else could have won it
but the man for all seasons: Meekal Zulfiqar.
It was the last award of the evening,
presented by Mahira Khan.
Among the litany of beautiful Pakistani
MAHIRA, AGAIN: Sanam Saeed, one of Pakistan’s most accomplished small screen stars, right, and fashion designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, left,
presented the award for Best Actor Female — Film to Mahira Khan, centre, for Bin Roye.
actresses who sashayed down the red carpet
dressed in their finest, Syra Yusuf was
imposing. Dressed in a deep blue Shehla
Chatoor gown, the actress was at her best.
Despite making her presence felt on either
side of the border, Mahira Khan couldn’t
create magic with Feeha Jamshed’s blackon-black and if you remember the recent
Filmfare cover featuring Alia Bhatt and
Fawad Khan — Humaima wore the Elan pink
couture – (the one Alia Bhatt wore) with a
head tight ponytail (a super turnoff hon!)
Still over all, as an entertainment
network, Hum TV managed to effectively
demonstrate its understanding of the market
and its viewer’s tastes.
IN THE FRAME: In a vintage Ali Xeeshan’s choli lehnga, Sohai Ali Abro follows Deepika’s etheral
Bajirao act.
SHOWSTOPPER: Syra Yusuf shines in a Shehla
Chatoor gown while presenting an Award for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
12 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
Get up to scratch on professional
animation software
Storyboarding on Toon Boom.
By Anand Holla
A
nimation can explain
whatever the mind of
man can conceive, the
great Walt Disney once
said, pointing out that
it is this facility that makes it “the
most versatile and explicit means of
communication yet devised for quick
mass appreciation”.
As the world of animation
undergoes a continuous flurry of
changes in its handling of technology
and treatment, it’s imperative to
learn the contemporary tools of the
trade from the finest. The Doha Film
Institute (DFI) in collaboration with
the Qatar Animation Center, which
is under the Ministry of Culture and
Sports, is presenting the holistic
Toon Boom Certified Training Course
to the upcoming animators of Qatar.
The DFI says, “This course takes
you through the core concepts
of Harmony and Storyboard Pro
in order for you to understand
their basic uses. You will also
be introduced to the two main
animation techniques Harmony
is used for: traditional paperless
animation and cut-out animation.”
All over the world, Toon Boom
software helps artists tell their
stories in any style of animation, and
efficiently publish them from the big
screen to mobile, the DFI points out.
“From 2D to 3D, and from cut-out
to claymation, some of the most
memorable productions ever made
were developed using Toon Boom
software. The gaming and live action
industry has also begun developing
projects using Toon Boom. From the
smallest shop to the largest studio,
with Toon Boom software, if you can
imagine it, we can help you make
it,” the DFI says in a note on the
intermediate course that beings on
May 14.
When it comes to digital
production, Toon Boom Harmony
is the gold standard by which all 2D
animation software is judged. As
for Storyboard Pro, thousands of
studios and individuals worldwide
are using this industry standard tool
for storyboarding creation.
Once the candidates are selected
for the course, a detailed course
breakdown will be shared with them.
Also, personal copies of the software
programs are provided to course
participants. “A certification exam
will be taken and official certification
provided. It is mandatory to complete
all three sessions of the course
“The course
is open
to Qatari
citizens
and the
deadline
to apply is
May 1”
through the year in order to get the
certification at the end of the course,”
the DFI says.
The criteria for selection mandate
that the candidate must possess
general drawing, animation and
storyboarding skills, must be capable
of using a pen tablet, and is a citizen
of Qatar. For submission, send your
portfolio or CV, copy of Passport or
ID, and any previous film or creative
works (illustrations, animation,
online portfolio, website etc.) in
Word or PDF format to animation@
dohafilminstitute.com
Candidates will be selected by the
workshop mentor, and shortlisted
candidates not selected for the lab
will be placed on a waiting list in case
of cancellations. The deadline for
submission is May 1, so you may want
to hurry on this one.
Those chosen are required to
participate in all 12 days of each
session. The first session is from May
14 to 26; second would be in Mid2016; and the third would be at the
end of 2016. Each session takes place
from Saturday through Thursday
and the total training per session
would be 49 hours (over 12 days).
The timings would be weekdays from
4pm to 8:30pm, and Saturdays from
10am to 6pm.
For the past 20 years, Toon Boom
Animation, the industry’s premier
storyboarding and animation
software, has been changing the
animation world one production at
a time.
The course will be helmed
by Stacey Eberschlag, who has
graduated with honours from
Sheridan College in Classical
Animation and has worked for
close to 20 years in the animation
industry in a variety of positions.
Eberschlag joined Toon Boom
Animation in 2010; prior to this
he held the position of Director
at Amberwood Entertainment
for eight years. He has directed
numerous programmes, including
Zeroman and Hoze Houndz,
and worked on many critically
acclaimed programmes, including
Choose Your Own Adventure, The
Ron White Animated Show, The
Secret World of Benjamin Bear,
and the Emmy Award-winning
Tutenstein. Eberschlag also worked
as a senior animator for Mercury
Filmworks, and his animation work
was featured in Jimmy Two-Shoes,
Mischief City and Kick Buttowski, a
Walt Disney series.
Obituary
Indian expatriate dead
Indian expatriate Joseph
Chiramel (45) died at a local
hospital yesterday after a weeklong treatment. The long-term
Doha resident leaves behind his
wife Rijo, and children Carrol and
Chris, both students at DPS-MIS.
Efforts are underway to fly the
body to his native Irinjalakuda in
Kerala’s Thrissur district, said a
close friend of the deceased.
Chiramel, who used to work with
an international firm in Ras Laffan,
had set up businesses in the UAE
and Qatar after leaving his earlier
employers a few years ago.
Family Guy is one of the many animated TV series that uses Toon Boom software.
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
COMMUNITY
LEISURE
Colour by numbers
Colour by choice
Maze
Connect the dots
Picture crossword
13
14 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
CARTOONS
Friday, April 29, 2016
Quick Clues
Wordwatch
factotum (fak-TOH-tuhm)
MEANING:
noun: A servant or a low-level employee
tasked with many things.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin factotum, from facere (to
do) + totus (all). Earliest documented
use: 1573.
USAGE:
“Now, a reporter trying to interview
a business source is confronted by a
phalanx of factotums.”
David Carr; The Puppetry of Quotation
Approval; The New York Times; Sep 16,
2012.
DOWN
2. Anger (3)
3. Sound (5)
4. Shrewdness (6)
5. Abstract (7)
6. Result (11)
7. Not discoloured (9)
10. Reserve (11)
11. Rigidity (9)
14. Climbing plant (7)
16. Noted (6)
19. Danger (5)
21. Half-score (3)
Cryptic Clues
Other cousins of this word, derived from
the same Indo-European root bhrater(brother), are brother, pal, fraternal, and
bully. Earliest documented use: 1425.
USAGE:
“Dr Madan Kataria developed a catalog
of comical expressions and sounds that
he and his confreres used to stimulate
and simulate laughter.”
Eric Trump; Got the Giggles? Join the
Club; The New York Times; Jul 27, 2002.
interlocutor (in-tuhr-LOK-yuh-tuhr,
-yoo-)
MEANING:
noun: One who takes part in a
conversation or dialogue, especially as
a representative of an organization.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin inter- (between) + loqui (to
speak). Earliest documented use: 1518.
USAGE:
“During the meeting, the two
interlocutors spoke about the existing
relations between the two countries.”
Ambassador Meets With Chief
Executive of Macau; Angola Press
Agency (Luanda); Oct 30, 2007.
protege (PRO-tuh-zhay, pro-tuhZHAY)
MEANING:
noun: One who is protected, guided,
and supported by somebody older and
more experienced.
ETYMOLOGY:
From French protégé, past participle
of protéger (to protect), from Latin
protegere, from pro- + tegere (cover).
Ultimately from Indo-European root (s)
teg- (to cover), which is the ancestor of
other words such as tile, thatch, protect,
detect, and toga. Earliest documented
use: 1786.
USAGE:
“’I’m proud of him,’ Big Tigger says of his
protege.”
Chris Richards; Peter Rosenberg; The
Washington Post; May 31, 2013.
confrere (KON-frayr)
MEANING:
noun: Colleague; a fellow member of a
profession, fraternity, etc.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin con- (with) + frater (brother).
fugleman (FYOO-guhl-muhn)
MEANING:
noun: One who leads a group, company,
or party.
ETYMOLOGY:
From German Flügelmann (flank man),
DOWN
2. Focus of Schubert is apparent (3)
3. Without clothes, without gravity - tip
the wink (5)
4. Cast scorn on English watchdog (6)
5. Wear out part of the car (7)
6. Policeman mistakenly leapt on
evidence of faultless writing (11)
7. Beadles about right on Sunday - how
you may feel after a close shave (9)
10. Dry period in a port at journey’s end?
(3,8)
11. Mean with string for the high-wire act?
(9)
14. Home Guard put a limit on one’s
movement (7)
16. Part of the last rally of the stars (6)
19. Doff coats for a day at the races? (5)
21. A single cracked urn (3)
Yesterday’s Solutions
QUICK
Across: 7 Heaven; 8 Banish; 10 Routine;
11 Cover; 12 Feud; 13 Aside; 17 Cloak; 18
Axle; 22 Hoist; 23 Exclaim; 24 Weapon; 25
Poison.
Down: 1 Sheriff; 2 Vacuous; 3 Debit; 4
Cascade; 5 Sieve; 6 Sharp; 9 Newspaper; 14
Glutton; 15 Exhaust; 16 Ferment; 19 Shawl;
20 Vital; 21 Scoop.
CRYPTIC
Across: 7 Teapot; 8 Kennel; 10 Illicit; 11
Lucky; 12 Gout; 13 Staff; 17 Wrist; 18 Opal;
22 Bream; 23 Unicorn; 24 Nodded; 25
Quince.
Down: 1 Strings; 2 Fall out; 3 Porch; 4
Well off; 5 Knock; 6 Plays; 9 Status quo; 14
Trammel; 15 Appoint; 16 Flannel; 19 Ebony;
20 Wendy; 21 Sit-up.
from Flügel (wing) + Mann (man). A
fugleman was once a soldier placed
usually on a flank during drill to serve
as a guide for his company. Earliest
documented use: 1804.
USAGE:
“H.L. Mencken was trying singlehandedly to drag American culture out
of Puritanism and into the twentieth
century, to act as fugleman on this side
of the Atlantic for a literary and artistic
renaissance comparable to the one
then taking place on the other side.”
Jonathan Yardley; The Sage of
Baltimore;
aa (AH-ah)
MEANING:
noun: Lava having a rough surface.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Hawaiian a ā (to burn). Earliest
documented use: 1859.
NOTES:
Aa is one of the two kinds of lava
typically found in Hawaiian volcanoes.
The other kind is pahoehoe, one with a
smooth, ropy surface.
USAGE:
“The type of lava most prevalent on
Bartolomé Island is aa lava; it has
a lower temperature and less gas
content, which makes for a slower flow,
which causes broken flows and sharp
edges.”
Ilene Cox; One More Day in the
Galapagos Islands; Redlands Daily Facts
(California); Sep 25, 2005.
— wordsmith.org
Yesterday’s Solutions
Sudoku
ACROSS
1. Deplorable - the French in history! (9)
8. Coin with mineral origins (3)
9. There’s a pop-group aboard - let’s get
out of here! (7,4)
11. Trooped off wreck (7)
12. Parking in nude is ridiculous turnabout
(2-3)
13. Sparkles at playing games on beginner
(6)
15. Dance movement said to be plain (6)
17. Language of about a million Asian
people (5)
18. Notice, say, stringed instrument for
getting fish (3-4)
20. Tchaikovsky suite with bearing may
demolish even a hard case (11)
22. Appealing inside to vegetable (3)
23. Your portion of garden (9)
15
COMMUNITY
LEISURE
ACROSS
1. Extricate (9)
8. Extinguished (3)
9. Nemesis (11)
11. Hide (7)
12. High sea (5)
13. Undamaged (6)
15. Diminish (6)
17. Compel (5)
18. Adds (7)
20. Unseemliness (11)
22. Position (3)
23. Elastic (9)
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): Take Down
(2D) 1.30pm; Top Cat Begins
(2D) 3.30pm; Mother’s Day (2D)
5.15pm; The Huntsman: Winter’s
War (2D) 7.15pm; Midnight
Special (2D) 9.15pm; Manithan
(Tamil) 11.15pm.
Mall Cinema (2): Dhay Fe Abu
Dhabi (Arabic) 2pm; The Jungle
Book (2D) 4.15pm; Midnight
Special (2D) 6pm; Baaghi (Hindi)
8.30 & 11pm.
Mall Cinema (3): Kali
(Malayalam) 1.15pm; Hijrat
(Urdu) 3.30pm; Synchronicity
(2D) 5.45pm; I Am Wrath (2D)
7.45pm; Kangar Hoppiena
(Arabic) 9.15pm; Green Room
(2D) 11.30pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(1): Top Cat Begins (2D) 1.30 &
3.15pm; The Jungle Book (2D)
5pm; Baaghi (Hindi) 6.45pm;
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
(2D) 9.15pm; Baaghi (Hindi)
11.15pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(2): Green Room (2D) 1pm; Dhay
Fe Abu Dhabi (Arabic) 3pm;
Midnight Special (2D) 5.15pm;
Mother’s Day (2D) 7.15pm; Hijrat
(Urdu) 9.15pm; Synchronicity
(2D) 11.30pm.
Royal Plaza Cinema Palace
(3): Mother’s Day (2D) 1.45pm; I
Am Wrath (2D) 3.45pm; Kangar
Hoppiena (Arabic) 5.30pm; I Am
Wrath (2D) 7.30pm; Midnight
Special (2D) 9.15pm; Take Down
(2D) 11.30pm.
16 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE
10 moving mistakes to avoid for a
safe and productive moving day
F
or all moving people, the turn
of seasons means it’s time to
tackle the big move. Whether
you’ve purchased a new home
or are changing apartments,
moving is a lot of work — both physically
and mentally. By planning ahead, packing
smart and moving safely, you can avoid
some of the most notorious moving day
mistakes.
To streamline your moving day, avoid
these top mistakes and feel great about
entering your new home sweet home:
Renting the wrong size truck
In general, allow 150 cubic feet of truck
space for each fully furnished room. For
example, a 12-foot truck offers 450 cubic
feet while a 26-foot truck offers 1,400
cubic feet for your items.
Packing items too early or too late
Begin with out-of-season and nonessential items several weeks prior
to move day. Donate or sell anything
you won’t use at your new home. Pack
essentials like personal necessities
and basic cookware the day before or
morning of moving day.
ARIES
March 21 — April 19
Today is one of those days when you probably wish you were
anywhere else than where you are Aries. Down on energy? Feel like
your mojo went on vacation without you? It’s simply a temporary
energy dip. This too shall pass.
CANCER
June 21 — July 22
There’s nothing worse than feeling as if you have to do something,
is there? Feeling obligated is akin to feeling trapped to some of
you. Keep in mind that with Mercury freshly out of phase in your
friendship zone, others may feel the same way and you might
actually get out of it!
LIBRA
September 23 — October 22
Be open to people swapping things around and changing plans
without much notice at all today Librans. In fact, that’s the way
things are going to be for some time to come, with Mercury the
communicator out of phase.
CAPRICORN
December 22 — January 19
If you feel as if your other half has totally got the wrong end of the
stick and is simply arguing with you for the sake of it, blame it on
Mercury being out of phase in your romance zone and don’t allow it
to upset you too much.
Damaging breakable items
Poor packing can cause items to
break during the move. Plan ahead
and have plenty of paper and bubble
wrap on hand. Towels, socks and other
soft materials are great for packing
breakables as well.
Reserving a rental truck too late
Wait too long and you might not get
the truck you need. Reserve a truck
at least two weeks prior to the move.
Reserve the perfect moving truck for
your moving day, saving you time and
headaches.
Poorly labelled boxes
Where did you put those tools you now
so desperately need? Always remember
to label boxes clearly. Note the boxes’
contents and what room it belongs in.
Not having enough hands on deck
Now is the time to cash in some favours
and elicit friends and family to help
on moving day. This allows you to use
your truck rental time efficiently while
ensuring you’re not too sore from doing it
all yourself.
TAURUS
April 20 — May 20
Some of you probably feel as if you can’t take a trick right now!
Mercury the planet of getting things done just went out of phase in
your sign yesterday and May 21 (the day it moves direct) seems a
long way off, doesn’t it?
LEO
July 23 — August 22
If something sounds absolutely too good to be true today, chances
are that it is Leos. Don’t fall into a trap someone is leaving out for you
today. Ask around, listen to your intuition and if you still don’t know
what to think, don’t think anything.
SCORPIO
October 23 — November 21
Unfortunately, with Mercury the communications guru out of phase
for the next few weeks in your relationship zone, getting your point
of view across won’t be so easy. Actions definitely speak louder than
words anyway, but particularly now.
AQUARIUS
January 20 — February 18
If you feel as if you can’t remember where you put things or have
lost your keys 5 times already today, don’t see it as early onset of
anything terrible! It’s simply Mercury retrograde working his magic
in your busy zone.
Not utilising truck space efficiently
Put the biggest items in the truck first
followed by heavy boxes. Then stack with
lighter boxes and other items to fill in the
remaining space.
Lifting incorrectly
When loading and unloading, be sure
to bend your knees and lift with your
legs, not your back. Work diligently, but
be sure to take breaks and stay hydrated.
Driving at peak times
Leave early in the morning. You’ll run
into less traffic and you’ll leave yourself
extra time to unload at your destination.
Take turns driving and take breaks once
every two to three hours.
Unsafe driving practices
Driving a big truck is new for many
people. Professionals will get you
familiarised with your vehicle, verify
the best driving directions to your new
home, check the upcoming weather
and give you any necessary driving
advice.
© Brandpoint
GEMINI
May 21 — June 20
Unless you can find a way to get out of doing something later today
or over the weekend, you might be stuck with having to go or part
with money or do something else you don’t want to do. Next time
don’t say “yes” so readily!
VIRGO
August 23 — September 22
Unless you are certain about something or someone today, don’t go
ahead with whatever plans you make or time you spend teaching
them something. Your time is precious just like theirs is, so don’t let
them get away with making you feel guilty.
SAGITTARIUS
November 22 — December 21
As much as you like being involved in pretty much everything Sags,
right now with Mars the planet of energy and passion out of phase in
your sign, you might not be up to running around and trying to keep
up. It could be a weekend to unwind and really relax.
PISCES
February 19 — March 20
Quality is definitely better than quantity when it comes to
friendships Pisces. Something you will definitely find out over the
next few weeks. Knowing who’s in your corner and who isn’t is vital
information.
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES
17
COMMUNITY
BOLLYWOOD
Nobody offers me negative roles,
says Shivani Surve
Actress Shivani Surve, known for her
bubbly image onscreen, says she is ready to
play negative roles but nobody is ready to
offer her that type of characters. “I might
do a negative role, but nobody offers me
negative characters. Everybody says that
‘No, you can’t do that’. They think that I
don’t look like a vamp. So, I really don’t
know what will make me look like that.
“Maybe my face is sweet enough for
that type of roles. I can’t do any ‘vampish’
character,” Shivani, who has featured in TV
shows like Navyaa, Phulwa and Anamika,
told IANS.
Asked why actors get bored and leave TV
shows after playing a character for a long
time, Shivani said: “Why does it happen
with them... I don’t understand? I never
get bored with doing repeatedly the same
scenes.
“You are an actor, it means you are a
creative person. In every scene you have
to show your creativity. The day you will
get bored, it means you are not showing
your creativity. You are doing acting for the
money purpose.”
Shivani will next be seen in Jana Na Dil
Se Door wherein she will portray the role
of Vividha. “Vividha is a very different
character. There are a lot of shades in her
character. That’s why I decided to be part of
this show.
“The story of the show is based in Ajmer,
but she doesn’t know what’s happening
outside that city and doesn’t know
anything about the bad and good people in
the world. The show features how Atharva
(Vikram Singh Chauhan) makes Vividha a
strong and individual girl. It tells how both
of them fall in love with each other,” she
said.
Sharing similarities between her role and
her personal life, Shivani said: “Vividha is
very attached to her family. So am I. Also,
she is sweet just like me.”
Apart from Hindi shows, Shivani has
also appeared in several Marathi serials
like Devyani and Sundar Maza Ghar — And
she says that working in any daily soap
is similar irrespective of the language in
which it is being made.
“For me, it’s not at all different. I have to
do same things in Hindi and Marathi. It’s
just that the language changes. Apart from
that, everything else remains the same for
me. I love working in both Marathi and
Hindi shows,” Shivani said.
Jana Na Dil Se Door will be aired on Star
Plus from May 9 onwards. – IANS
Barjatya encourages
filmmakers with ‘fresh thoughts’
PACKING IT IN: Huma Qureshi
Huma Qureshi
wants to remain
busy with work
A
ctress Huma Qureshi, who is
currently busy with three films
— Dobaara, Viceroy’s House and
southern movie White — says she
is more than happy having a tight
schedule.
Asked if she feels overburdened with work,
Huma told IANS: “Not at all. Last year, in
fact, I had only one release that was Badlapur,
which did really well commercially and
critically ... I am more than happy to be busy
with work.”
Director Sooraj Barjatya says that the
industry is more conducive for independent
filmmakers today who have “fresh
thoughts” as the audience is much more
“real cinema-oriented”.
“There’s no opportunity better than now
for people who have fresh thoughts and
who want to do something new because
the audience is much more educated, much
more real cinema-oriented,” Barjatya said
at an event.
“I wish everyone that whatever is there
in your mind, you should definitely make
it. It is difficult to make films today, but
if you have the passion, then you have
everything,” he added.
Barjatya has been in the industry for
more than 25 years now, having delivered
some of the biggest hits of the industry with
films such as Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke
Hain Kaun..! and recently Prem Ratan Dhan
Payo.
In today’s time where Indian cinema
PIECE OF ADVICE: Sooraj Barjatya
is undergoing many experimental and
innovative changes, ‘I Am A Film Maker,
I Am Independent’, an initiative of We
Manage Filmz, founded by Gaurav Pandey,
promises to encourage independent film
makers by bringing them close to each other
and to the right audience. — IANS
“I hope I always remain busy with it (work),”
added the Gangs of Wasseypur actress. Huma
will be seen sharing screen space with her
brother and actor Saqib Saleem in the Hindi
film remake of the Hollywood film Oculus.
She is also making her debut in southern
cinema with superstar Mammootty in White.
The 29-year-old actress will also share
screen space with Downton Abbey star Hugh
Bonneville in Gurinder Chadha’s upcoming
British-Indian historical drama film Viceroy’s
House. — IANS
TWITTER BUZZ: Shah Rukh Khan, left, and Manoj Bajpayee.
Kamal Haasan to revive
an old character in his next
Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan will bring
back one of his most loved characters from
yesteryear in his next yet-untitled trilingual
project, which will officially launch today.
“It’s true that Kamal sir will be playing one of
his most popular characters, and it’s tipped to
be hilarious. He will officially announce it on
Friday,” a source close to Haasan told IANS.
To be directed by Rajeev Kumar, the
film will feature Haasan and his daughter
Shruti Haasan as father-daughter for the
first time on the screen. Popular Telugu
comedian Brahmanandam, Ramya Krishnan
and Saurabh Shukla are already part of the
project, which will be simultaneously shot
in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. A majority
portion of the film will be shot in the US,
besides some scenes in India. Maestro
Ilayaraja has been roped in to compose the
tunes. – IANS
SRK was ‘happy’ to
see Manoj Bajpayee
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says he was
“so happy” to see actor Manoj Bajpayee,
who was promoting his upcoming realitybased film Traffic. The Chennai Express
star paid a surprise visit to Manoj, who
“thanked” SRK for “dropping by”. “Thanks
for dropping by Shah Rukh Khan quite a
surprise for the media present there. God
bless you,” Manoj tweeted on Tuesday
night.
The 50-year-old superstar replied by
saying: “Was so happy to see you my man.”
Traffic is an emotional thriller based
on a road trip from Mumbai to Pune. The
story revolves around transportation of a
heart for a heart transplant case, chasing
a strict deadline. During the mission, the
characters face numerous difficulties and
traffic being one of them. Directed by late
Rajesh Pillai, produced by Deepak Dhar of
Endemol India and presented by Foxstar
Studios, Traffic also stars Jimmy Sheirgill,
Divya Dutta and Sachin Khedekar. — IANS
18 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
HOLLYWOOD
Actor Michael Weston
ignored father’s advice
reviving the old Crypt Keeper and
Tales from the Crypt, that haunted
comic books first and then HBO.
The anthology will feature horror
blocks, the way American Horror
Story does. The first season will
pay tribute to the slasher movies
of the ‘80s, subsequent sections
will visit other horror categories ...
Speaking of horror, the cult classic
“Mother May I Sleep with Danger?”
is being redone by Lifetime, Sony
and James Franco, set to air on June
18. Ivan Sergei and Tori Spelling,
who costarred in the first film, are
reunited in this spooky remake.
Franco will star.
By Luaine Lee
W
hen Michael
Weston decided
he wanted to be an
actor, he sought
the advice of his
father. This promised to be a wise
choice since Weston’s dad is veteran
actor John Rubinstein (Desperate
Housewives, Parenthood).
But the counsel wasn’t what
he was looking for. “He said, ‘If
you can do anything else, do it,’”
recalls Weston seated in a hotel
alcove here in Pasadena, California.
The problem was he couldn’t do
anything else. Well, baseball,
maybe, way back. He proved a
promising player in high school,
but threw his arm out, ending a
burgeoning career.
“I always liked to mess around. I
was the class clown in those ways.
But I never saw myself up on stage,”
he says, leaning back on the beige
velveteen couch, his arm resting on
the back of the sofa.
“But my dad was an actor and
my mom was an actress. So it was
in my bones all along. I just didn’t
really know it ... To me, I loved
sports so much, but what I loved
about acting is that it’s a team sport
as well. You have this elaborate
team and you all collaborate in a
deep and personal and creative way
and in an intense, sort of athletic
way, and you create this thing.
One component can’t do it on his
own. You have to have each other,
look to each other, and trust each
other. I love that aspect of it. It was
a deeper, more complete sport to
me.”
Though his parents divorced
when Michael was 12, he
remembers watching the erratic
nature of his father’s job. “My dad
... has spent a career feeling when
it’s good it’s good, and when it’s
not, it’s hard. It’s painful and you
have to be very resilient and have
to check your ego at the door and
invest in the best qualities of the
work,” says Weston, 42.
“I learned that from him. I took
his advice seriously. And as I did
it, I realized that I was OK with
the rejection, with the ups and
downs of it, and the unknown,” says
Weston, who changed his moniker
because there was another actor
with the same name in the actors’
guild.
He recalls that his father had
spent months refining a play only
to have the New York Times theatre
critic bury it on opening night. “My
dad worked with so much love and
heart in what he did and just gave
himself to it. With a play, you work
for weeks and weeks and weeks and
INVESTIGATION
DISCOVERY TO HOST EVENT
Like Comic-con before it, the
Investigation Discovery Channel
is holding an IDcon in New York
come June 11. Fans of the all-crime
network (who are predominately
women) will seize the chance to
meet their favourites — Joe Kenda,
Homicide Hunter, Paula Zahn, On
the Case, Chris Hansen, Mind of
a Murderer, etc. The event will be
held at the Altman Building and
will offer all kinds of killer treats
including a chance to serve as a
walk-on (or maybe a dead body)
on one of the shows. Admission is
free, but you must register to attend
at https://idcon.eventbrite.com,
first-come, first served.
SOUL SEARCHING: Michael Weston costars in Fox’s new series, Houdini & Doyle. Weston plays the skeptical Harry
Houdini.
finally put it out, and then some
guy comes in and in one night can
shut it all down. I remember he
took it so personally. It broke his
heart ... I remember seeing how
hard he took it and also remember
seeing him get on his feet and go
back into the next thing. There was
something about that. I found it
very heroic.”
But he comes from a line of
heroic artists. Weston’s grandfather
was the famous classical pianist
Arthur Rubinstein. There’s some of
that daring in Weston’s latest role
as the intrepid Harry Houdini in
Fox’s new series, Houdini & Doyle,
premiering soon. It pits the famous
duo — magician Harry Houdini
and Sherlock Holmes author
Arthur Conan Doyle — against the
Victorian underworld when they
are conscripted to assist Scotland
Yard.
Acting may require audacity, but
Weston says, “The gutsiest things
one does in life is to be truthful,
open yourself up. The intimacy that
one finds with one’s spouse, those
are the scariest moments of my
life. This stuff is scary, and it’s hard
and it’s what you do, but I love it to
my toes. But to me, the triumphs
in my life are the ones ingrained
in me in some dark part of myself.
And to break that crust and to find
the better human being within it
where I really exist and where I am a
deeper, better human, those are the
triumphs for me.”
Costarring in an absorbing
miniseries marks only one of
Weston’s latest challenges. He
and his wife, singer Priscilla Ahn,
are the parents of a 5-monthold baby boy. “I’m a loving dude
and care deeply about everyone
in my life, but I don’t think I’ve
experienced this kind of love in my
life. This kid, it hits a chord in my
guts, it’s just something else. I sit
there and look at him, and you’re
instantly relearning everything
about yourself. You see this little
pure, innocent thing, and he’s
already open and good in all ways,
and it restores your sense of hope
in what’s good in the world. It’s
an amazing feeling. It shakes the
foundations of everything you
thought the world was about.”
THE CRYPT KEEPER RISES
AGAIN
We have to wait a year but
TNT and M Night Shyamalan are
PRIVATE EYE BACK ON THE
CASE
Next Monday Acorn TV will
begin streaming a whole new
season of Guy Pearce as the
rebellious and cheeky “Jack Irish.”
Already the veteran of three TV
movies, the Australian private
eye deserves his own series as
interpreted by the terrific Pearce.
Though he’s been super successful
in projects like Memento and L.A.
Confidential, Pearce tells me he’s
not so sure he likes performing.
“I don’t know how much I do like
acting. I feel I’ve always used acting
in my life as a survival technique
that’s why I don’t really feel at
times that I’m a real actor who does
his homework and all that stuff,”
he says.
“I got into acting when I was
pretty young. It is a survival
technique sometimes ... the fear
of being uninteresting, the fear
of looking scared, a response to
perhaps when I was younger and
was thinking about something
and my mother would say to me,
‘Get that miserable look off your
face.’ ‘Oh, I’m not miserable.’
Now somebody pays me to do
it. I constantly question it, and I
constantly question the value of it
and see that it sort of perpetuates
those insecurities.” — TNS
Friday, April 29, 2016
GULF TIMES 19
COMMUNITY
HOLLYWOOD
Dakota Johnson is
uncertain about
her future in Hollywood
SECOND THOUGHTS: Megan Fox, left, and Brian Austin Green.
Megan to call off divorce
with Brian Austin Green?
A
ctress Megan Fox, who was spotted
cosying up with estranged husband Brian
Austin Green in Hawaii, is reportedly
considering cancelling their divorce. A
source close to both the actors claimed that
the Transformers star, who is expecting her third child
with the 42-year-old actor, was “changing her mind
a little bit” when it came to divorcing Green, reports
usmagazine.com.
“Megan was the one that wanted the divorce and
Brian has done everything to try to convince her
otherwise. He planned this trip back to Hualalai,
where they got married,” the source said. During their
vacation, the two were spotted enjoying a beach stroll.
They were seen walking hand in hand as Fox showed
off her growing baby bump. The pair looked radiant as
they smiled from ear to ear. “It was great and Megan is
coming around. She hasn’t called off the divorce just
yet, but it’s heading in that direction. They are both
very excited about a new baby and having it together,”
the insider said.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the
Shadows star showed off her baby bump at CinemaCon
in Las Vegas on April 11. Though she and Green have
split, they continue to co-parent their sons Noah and
Bodhi. — IANS
Tim Burton-inspired
hotel to open in NY
MUTUAL ADMIRATION: Late Prince, left, and Padma Lakshmi.
Prince was huge influence
on my life: Padma Lakshmi
Supermodel-actress Padma
Lakshmi has revealed that late
pop star Prince was a “huge
influence” on her life. “He was
a huge influence on my life and
my adolescence. I grew up with
Prince,” Lakshmi, 45, told people.
com at the TIME 100 Gala.
“I don’t remember being this
upset when any other performer
passed away. Not Michael Jackson,
not anybody. Bowie, yes, because
I know Iman and David,” she said,
adding, “And I knew Prince too, but
I wasn’t that close to him. But I just
knew him. I’ve been depressed all
week”.
Lakshmi was a big fan of the
“Purple rain” singer and much to
her surprise, the late singer was
a fan of her reality TV series Top
Chef. “He was a Top Chef fan. He
was very generous. He was funny.
He knew what it was,” she added.
Not only did the mother of one
recall dancing at his final Saturday
Night Live appearance, Lakshmi
also remembered her favourite
Prince memory. “He was very
mischievous. You think that’s an
act, but he’s very witty. He had
a great sense of humour,” she
explained. “I didn’t know how
small or how much shorter he was
than me when I first was talking to
him like this. That was a shock. He
was 5’2”. And barefoot, I’m 5’9”. It
was incredible to see him live,” she
added.
Prince was found dead at the age
of 57 at his home at Paisley Park in
Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April
21. — IANS
A bar and restaurant inspired
by filmmaker Tim Burton is set
to open in New York City’s East
Village. The restaurant named
Beetle House is based on Burton’s
1988 movie Beetlejuice, which
starred actor Michael Keaton in
the title role, as well as several
of his other motion pictures,
reports femalefirst.co.uk.
The eatery will feature food
and drinks based on Burton’s
films, including Edward
Scissorhands and Mars Attacks!.
Among the cocktails on
offer at Beetle House are the
Headless Horseman, so called
after his 1999 horror motion
picture Sleepy Hollow, and the
Jack Skellington, a character in
1993 film The Nightmare Before
Christmas, which was produced
by Burton.
Customers who are keen to
indulge in a meaty treat might
like to order the Edward Burger
Hands or the Sweeney Beef that
get their name from actor Johnny
Depp’s onscreen character
Sweeney Todd. It’s not the first
time Beetle House’s owners have
created a celebrity-inspired
venue, having previously opened
the Stay Classy New York, which
is dedicated to actor Will Ferrell.
— IANS
Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota
Johnson says she still feels like she
doesn’t know what she’s doing and
is unsure of what her life will be
like. “I still feel like I don’t know
what I’m doing,” she said in the
May issue of Interview, reports
eonline.com.
“Like, I’m unsure of what my
life will be like. I mean, I have such
an obsession with making movies
that I probably will always do that.
But sometimes my life can feel so
suffocating, and then it can feel so
massive, like I don’t have a handle
on it at all, and I don’t know where
it’s going or what I’m going to do.
“Right now, I’m known for
making movies. And I wonder if
that’s it. I don’t know. It doesn’t
feel like it to me.”
She shared that it seems like the
world is “so fast to move its interest
to someone else”.
“When I think about filmmakers
and actresses that I have admired
my whole life, I’ve admired their
entire body of work. I have admired
what they began with and what
they’re doing now. And now I feel
like there’s such a weird pressure to
find the new face,” she continued.
“I don’t get it at all. I want to see
women evolve. I want to see a body
of work. I want to see all of it.” —
IANS
The Angry Birds Movie a
‘break’ for Peter Dinklage
Actor Peter Dinklage, who has
lent his voice for the Mighty Eagle
in The Angry Birds Movie, says it’s
a “break” from all the “slapstick
drama” he has been doing lately.
Ever since Game of Thrones burst
onto television screens, it was the
portrayal of Tyrion Lannister by
Dinklage that had everyone talking.
Now the Golden Globe winner is
looking forward to taking a break
from his dramatic portrayals and
finding some comic relief in his
professional career.
“Mighty Eagle likes to talk, talk
and talk about himself. He has a
mighty Ego. There’s a huge group
of hilarious comedians starring in
the movie, like the most number
COMIC RELIEF: Peter Dinklage
IN THE DARK: Dakota Johnson
of funny people ever together in
one movie,” Dinklage said in a
statement.
“I had such a blast upstaging all
of them. My favourite part about
the film is the slapstick comedy,
it’s such a break from the slapstick
drama I’ve been doing lately,” he
added.
Based on one of the most
successful games of the recent
times, Angry Birds, the star cast of
the movie includes Jason Sudeikis
(Horrible Bosses), Josh Gad (Pixels,
Frozen), Danny McBride (Due Date,
This is the End) and Maya Rudolph
(Grown Ups, Bridesmaids).
Distributed by Sony Pictures, The
Angry Birds Movie will release in
India on May 27 in English, Hindi
and Tamil. It will also be available
in 3D. – IANS
20 GULF TIMES Friday, April 29, 2016
COMMUNITY
Sashie’s world of gigantic orbs
Toadstool.
Initiative Star.
By Umer Nangiana
F
illed with futuristic warnings
about human’s tendencies for
environmental dominance and
over-consumption, this is a
fictional world of orb paintings.
Japanese artist Masakatsu Sashie presents
this imaginary world depicting large, city-like
spheres drifting above remains of a destroyed
civilisation.
His gigantic orbs are created out of scraps of
old constructions from the Showa-period. It
is a period of enlightened peace and harmony,
period of radiant Japan during the time of reign
of the Showa Emperor, Hirohito, from 1926 to
1989. And there are pieces of mass production
and mass consumption culture in his work.
Things like vending machines, pachinko
parlours or fast food signs and video game
components are woven into Sashie’s imagery
in his orb painting, creating an orb using a
light source. The Japanese artist and his work
are coming to town with a solo exhibition at
Anima Gallery on May 9.
“Sashie focuses on the idea how with
the haphazard increase in populations and
depletion of resources, the space is shrinking
for humans. He tries to depict in his work
how the future cities would look like,” Iliana
Kodzhamanova, the Sales and Marketing
Executive, Anima Gallery, tells Community.
She says Sashie’s work is easily
distinguishable and he is one of the most
prominent young Japanese artists. His solo
exhibition comes as part of Anima Gallery’s
international focus.
“We mostly hold solo exhibitions during
different times of the year and our focus is
mostly on international artists. Sashie is a
distinguished Japanese artist with his work
Great Battle, a piece by Sashie.
In the Smog.
appealing to a large international audience,”
says Kodzhamanova.
The artist himself will be present at the
opening reception to be held at Anima Gallery
on May 9. The exhibition will open to the
public the next day.
Sashie’s work revolves around the belief
that the coacervate is a universal model and
basis for all systems and organisms, simple and
complex. The term coacervate, from Latin “to
assemble together or cluster,” is defined as a
microscopic droplet of assorted organic lipid
molecules held together by hydrophobic forces
in a surrounding liquid.
They create a locally segregated
environment yet their boundaries allow
selective absorption from the medium in
which they are contained. This assimilation
of elements, a primitive form of metabolism,
is the basis of the Origin of Life hypothesis
set forth by post-Darwin theorist Alexander
Oparin in which there is no fundamental
difference between living organisms and
lifeless matter.
Sashie’s coacervates are often depicted as
orb-shaped amalgams of manmade objects
suspended over cityscapes.
“Although coacervates exist on a
microscopic level, the function of assimilating
surrounding matter extends into our world
as well as the universe beyond. Selectively
absorbing and processing our environment,
whether conscious or subliminal, is part of our
evolution and results in the composition of
who we are, the world we live in, the systems
we create and values that are prized,” says the
artist in his statement.
The works in this exhibition feature
landscapes that resemble landfills comprising
towering piles of glowing televisions, vending
machines, vehicles and other industrially
manufactured products.
The juxtaposition of the detailed subjects
and the vastness of their surroundings
emphasises a contrast in complexities between
these concentrated small worlds and the
expansiveness of the larger world around
them.
Through these combinations, the
artist intends to convey the ubiquitous
commonality in how functions of
microscopic systems extrapolate to the
greater universe. Masakatsu was born in
1974 in the city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa
Prefecture. He received an MFA from the
Kanazaw College of Art in 2000.
His birth town is widely known for its rich
cultural traditions in arts and crafts. Kanazawa
has very difficult geographical accessibility
and it owes to this fact a rather unique culture
development.
Sashie received his MFA from the Kanazawa
College of Art in 2000. Sashie has exhibited
throughout Asia and the United States and
his work is included in private and corporate
collections internationally.
With a lifelong interest in model making and
having grown up in a virtual diorama, Sashie’s
intricately detailed oil paintings depict a
world where the common objects of modern
industrialisation take on often oppressive
forms.
These haunting vistas are often dominated
by an orb, a substantial figure, made of
an amalgam of the remnants of human
existence. The contrast between the detail and
complexity of the orb and the surrounding
environment impresses upon the viewer the
co-existence of small microcosms within the
larger outer world.
Without showing preference to either world,
Masakatsu Sashie paints two opposite worlds
as equals with the intent of drawing the viewer
into the space and having them reflect on
society and its values.