COMMUNITY

MARKETPLACE

HEALTH

FOOD

TECHNOLOGY

LEARN ARABIC

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• Pinoy bowlershold one-day gamefor charity

• Vodafone launchesNokia LumiaWindows Phone 8

• Dermatitis canlead to fingerprintID failures

• For a celebratoryspread, try avegetable pate

• Many surprisesin last year’stop 10 games

• Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meanings

insideTUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013 • plus@pen.com.qa • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741

The Hobbit retains box office The Hobbit retains box office crown; Les Miz starts wellcrown; Les Miz starts well P P | | 8-98-9

Diving for funfor funP | 2-3 With many new diving schools setting up

shop, the number of people queuing up to do a course in recreational diving has gone up exponentially. With weather holding up, it’s a perfect time for an underwater experience.

2 COVER STORYPLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

By Isabel Ovalle

For people living in Qatar it won’t come as a surprise that the weather in the country allows activities such as scuba diving all year round.

For those contemplating the possibility of beginning to scuba dive, the Open Water Diver Manual of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) gives a powerful description of what the first time undersea feels like: “You ease into the water and your face slips below the surface. Inhale; the air comes with a reassuring hiss, and for the first time, you breathe underwater. In moments, you forget your mask. Your equipment transforms to light and agile, and you’re free like you’ve never experienced before. With that first underwater breath, the door opens to a different world.”

The urge to experience this feeling engages many new divers every year, to the point that the number of diving schools in Qatar has grown in the last couple of years. Qatar’s leading PADI training school is Qatar Divers, which trains recreational divers of all ages and abilities. The owner and founder is Abdullatif Alnaemi. His school had 300 students of various nationalities last year.

He said recreational divers go up to 13 metres below the surface, while experts can go up to 40 metres down. There are three main diving sites in Qatar, the most

popular one being the Old Club Reef in Mesaieed, located near the end of the road between the Q-Chem perimeter fence and Sealine Beach Resort.

This is a favourite diving spot of the locals and fea-tures an artificial reef made up of several vehicles, school buses, a pickup truck and some small boats, as well as several piles of pipes and water tanks. Qatar Divers explained that this diving location was easy to access and its depths ranged from about 14 metres to 16 meters. Blue angel fish and other small local fish can be seen there.

New Club Reef is another diving site with a close drop off point. It is located near the sand dunes just beyond the Sealine resort. There are fewer fish in this area, though kingfish have been sighted there.

Experts say the Inland Sea is also a great place for diving. Located at Udaid, reached after a 20- minute drive through the dunes from Sealine Beach Resort, it is in sight of the Saudi Arabian coastline. It is a good place for an all-day excursion and has many fish.

In September 2012, Hani Chehab decided to open his own school, Poseidon Dive Center (PDC), which has already prepared 65 students for diving. Hani describes PDC as a club where scuba diving aficionados can gather to learn and socialise around the sport. PDC is the only facility in the country to offer rebreather courses and programmes.

How much does it cost?This is one answer everyone wants to know. The average price for a recreational diving course is around QR2,000, which includes the equipment used during the classes. Most schools have discounts for groups. Fees for professional courses like Instructor Development Course range between QR2,000 to QR6,000.

A different world A different world lies beneathlies beneath

3PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

People can learn diving in five days to one month. Coursesinclude theory followed by a dive in shallow water of up to threemetres depth. After this initiation, the students have to completedives in depths of up to 18 metres. The next step is an exam to obtain a certificate from PADI in 45 days.

“We opened recently, but we have already built up a major reputation,” Chehab said. For him, diving is a sport like any other,but it offers the ‘plus’ of meditation and relaxation, allowing thediver to explore sites that not everyone can see, and “be totallyat peace.”

The sport offers some health benefits too: it is good for the skin and aids weight loss. He added that diving in Qatari waters wassafe since there were no predatory marine species in the area.

In addition, the temperatures here allow diving all year round. From March to December, the sea is warmer and the divers wear a thinner wet suit called skin wet suit. From December to March, the water is cooler and the divers use a thicker suit.

Diving aficionados frequently hire their equipment, but oncethey acquire expertise, they usually purchase their own gear. Poseidon Dive Center has students aged 16 to 50 years, but mostof the divers are between 27 and 40.

It also has students of all nationalities, including many Qataris, who, added Chehab, enjoy fishing and other activities related tothe sea.

THE PENINSULA

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 20134 COMMUNITY

Qatar Airways hosts desert fun day

Qatar Airways’ recently hosted a desert fun day for their top trade partners in rec-ognition of the airline’s top-

performing trade partners. The event brought together the

Doha Sales Team of Qatar Airways and leading trade agencies in Khor al Udeid and gave everyone involved an oppor-tunity to network as well as enhance their relationships with one another through fun activities.

Guests had a chance to show off their skills at beach volleyball and sand-boarding. Those who wanted some relief from the sun and all the physical activity were able to cool off and rest in a special tent where they could feast on the buffet and listen to music while taking in the beautiful desert scenery.

The event was capped off by an evening awards ceremony, at which time certificates and aircraft-shaped trophies were handed out to the top 10 travel agencies as recognition for their commitment to Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways Vice-President

Commercial Qatar Ehab Amin said: “The event was an excellent opportu-nity to get away from the day to day working environment and enjoy each other’s company with Qatar Airways being the hosts – and the only items on the agenda were sand, sun and fun.”

Over the next few weeks and

months, Qatar Airways will launch services to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Gassim, Saudi Arabia (7 January 2013); Najaf, Iraq (January 23); Phnom Penh, Cambodia (February 20); Chengdu, China (March 19); Chicago, USA (April 10); and Salalah, Oman (May 22).

The Peninsula

Qatar Airways officials with their trade partners at the desert fun day.

Aster Medical Centre to host blood donation drive

Aster Medical Centre, a divi-sion of DM Healthcare, has collaborated with Hamad Medical Corporation, to

organise a blood donation drive on Friday, January 4, 2013. The Blood donation drive will be held at Aster Medical Centre (Wellcare Poly clinic) near Shafi Masjid, Al Rayyan, from 2pm onwards. “There is an increas-ing demand for donated blood, espe-cially of the rare types. However, this demand would not be met without the help of the general public. Donating blood takes only a few minutes of our time but makes an immeasurable difference to those in need of it. It can save between three to five lives,” said Dr Sameer Moopan, CEO, DM Healthcare - Qatar. The participants for the blood donation drive must have a valid Qatar ID and fall within the age bracket of 18 to 60 years. The par-ticipants must have a proper sleep of minimum 6 hours in the night prior to donating blood. Hamad Medical Corporation will do the screening for the participants to determine eligibil-ity for donating the blood.

For registration, contact 33177987.The Peninsula

Pinoy bowlers hold one-day game for charity

Many of the over 200 mem-bers of United Filipino Bowlers Qatar are on holi-day and the regular Friday

league is cancelled for the month of December, but this did not hinder the UFBQ Officers to conduct a one-day ‘Bowling Fun Game’ for charitable cause, at the Qatar Bowling Center recently.

This activity is part of the UFBQ objectives, aside from promoting the sport and foster camaraderie among expatriate Filipino bowling enthusiasts, they are very active in extending sup-port and assistance to neglected and distressed Overseas Filipino Workers, reach out to the needy Filipino children through ABS-CBN Bantay Bata 163, and to the victims of natural calamities in the Philippines.

The participants were divided into two divisions, with one group for Class A bowlers and the other group for Class B, C & Ladies. After four games under No-Tap format, the winners in Class A are the veteran player Ric Macatula in first place and won cash prize of QR800. Second place and the cash prize of QR300 went to Mohd Jamal and Chairman Re-elect Oliver Fabros settled for third place and a cash prize of QR150.

Aside from the 4-game series indi-vidual event, cash prize of QR130 was

awarded to High Game scores. In the first game, Fabros is the early one to make the mark with the score of 287, followed by Edward Mangulabnan in the second game with a score of 303 (including handicap) that beats the perfect game of 300 by Mohd Jamal. Marky del Carmen rolled the score of 300 in the third game and Rey Arroyo bags the fourth game with a score of 284 (including handicap).

In Class B, C & Ladies division, Vice-Chairperson Valerie Canchela won the first place and cash prize of QR800. The other winners are Teng Carama (2nd place), Edwin Cahulugan (3rd place) and Caloy Laxamana (4th place).

The proceed of QR1,050 plus the per-sonal cash donation of QR1,000 from Engineer Oliver Fabros will be donated to the victims of super typhoon Pablo in the Philippines, through the Embassy of the Philippines in Doha. The Peninsula

UFBQ members and officials posing for a group photograph after the event. DOWN: Filipino bowlers in action.

5MARKETPLACE PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

FROM LEFT: Kareem Mohamed Mahmoud Libda, Legal & HR Manager, Wathnan Mall, Moosa Kurungot, Asaraf V P, Managing Directors, Masskar Hypermarket and Zarabi Department Store, and Thaha Muhammed, Management Consultant, along with other guests during the National Day celebration at Wathnan Mall. Masskar Hyper Market and Zarabi Department Stores celebrated the National Day of Qatar by associating with Saad Bin Abi Waqaas Independent Model School. Titled ‘Qatar in our Hearts’ the programme had events like Aad al Qaseed ( traditional Qatari poetry), Aarda (traditional Qatari dance) and colouring competition. A huge “National Day Special Cake” was also cut during the function.

Masskar Hyper Market hosts National Day celebration for school students at Wathnan Mall

Aspec Qatar launches ‘Maximus Home Automation solutions’ product line

Aspec Qatar Ltd has launched a new product line ‘Maximus Home Automation solutions’ and announced its partnership with a UK firm Maximus Integrated Technologies

Ltd. “In Aspec, we appreciate our partnership with

Maximus and grateful to be a channel partner in Qatar for their entire range of electrical products, we also appreciate the confidence placed in us and strive to exceed Maximus high expectations from our professional consulting units on electrical solutions provided by Maximus,” said Ram Matchabuttani, Director, Aspec Qatar, during the product launch event organised at Rotana Oryx Hotel.

The event was also attended by Manish Sharma, CEO Maximus ME, and Dinesh Khimchand, CMO Maximus ME.

“As electrical solutions provider, Maximus is work-ing to make our existing products and processes

more efficient for both the environment and for busi-ness, while also developing new innovations and offer to Qatar’s market the products and services that

consume less energy and have lesser environmental impact,” points out Manish Sharma.

The Peninsula

Aspec Qatar and Maximus officials at the product launch event.

Vodafone launches Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8

QP donates four ambulances

In support of the various humani-tarian campaigns, Qatar Petroleum (QP) has donated four ambulance

vehicles to four charity organisations and societies, to be used for their humani-tarian activities. This support was extended under the directives of H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum, and in line with QP’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, to sup-port contribution in the charity sector activities to achieve its objectives.

One ambulance vehicle was delivered to each of the following: Sheikh Eid bin Mohammed Charity Association, Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani’s Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Qatar Charity Society, and Qatar Red Crescent Society.

The Peninsula

Vodafone Qatar announced that the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia

Lumia 820, the world’s most innovative smartphone range, are now available in its retail stores and online store. The Lumia 920 retails for QR2,499 and Lumia 820 for QR1,899 with the red version of the Nokia Lumia 920 available exclusively with Vodafone outlets. Moreover, customers can also take advantage of the prepaid and postpaid offers bundled with Nokia Lumia.

“Vodafone is delighted to make these innovative Nokia smartphones available. The phones have been received enthusias-tically internationally so we look forward to a positive response from our custom-ers in Qatar,” said Marc Norris, Customer Operations Director.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is the flagship

Windows Phone 8 smartphone which includes Arabic language capabilities and the latest advances in Nokia PureView imaging innovation. This means the phone is able to take in five times more light than competing smartphones without using flash, making it possible to capture clear, bright pictures and video indoors and at night.

Some of the other great features include built-in wireless charging for an easy, con-venient way to get more out of every day and the Nokia City Lens, the latest addition to the Nokia location suite. By pointing the camera at a city street, City Lens overlays information about restaurants, shops, hotels and more on the surfaces of buildings, for the most intuitive way to explore surround-ings. The Peninsula

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013 MUSIC6

By Mark Beech

Lana Del Rey closes the year looking more like the future of music than just the advertising face of H&M, Jaguar and Mulberry.

Something like 1,000 review albums have come my way since her Born to Die, and it’s still among my favourites of 2012.

She’s just beaten by Frank Ocean. He came to attention with his mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra, which was the freshest things I’d heard in ages. Now we have his debut proper, Channel Orange, crowned with the glossy, 10-minute track Pyramids.

Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball has the energy to see off criticism that The Boss is no longer a cutting-edge star.

Leonard Cohen brought out the ever-articulate Old Ideas, Donald Fagen the tasteful Sunken Condos and Mark Knopfler the virtuoso Privateering — all sticking to character. Bob Dylan’s Tempest has its moments, even with the overdone title track about the Titanic.

Bobby Womack has recovered from health prob-lems to make his best CD, The Bravest Man in the Universe, with Damon Albarn.

Ry Cooder’s Election Special was confidently dashed off, and so was Neil Young’s Psychedelic Pill, which came months after Americana. The White Stripes star Jack White has been going it alone, with the retro-tinged Blunderbuss.

Emeli Sande made an assured start with Our Version of Events. It does Sande a disservice to com-pare her to Aretha Franklin — that’s a little over the top, though she eclipsed Jessie Ware, whose Devotion also showcases an original voice.

Sharon Van Etten’s Tramp is a beautiful breakup album and Visions by Grimes is even dreamier, with wispy vocals.

Taylor Swift’s Red places Joni Mitchell-style maturity in a pop form. Fiona Apple’s fine CD is called The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do. If that seems a mouthful, keep in mind that it’s short compared with the 90-word title of one of her others.

Pink’s The Truth About Love rises above its brash commercialism, while Regina Spektor’s What We Saw From the Cheap Seats is kooky, in a good way.

Indie rock is finding its way forward after the demise of its patron saints, R.E.M.

Waiting in the wings to replace them we have

Britain’s the XX, with Coexist taking minimalism to a new level; Django Django, making a self-titled debut; Spiritualized (Sweet Heart Sweet Light); Grizzly Bear (Shields) and Beach House (the sub-lime Bloom).

Alt-J’s An Awesome Wave was a worthy Mercury Prize winner, Lonerism by Australia’s Tame Impala gently psychedelic, and Attack on Memory by Ohio’s Cloud Nothings a dark slab of vitriol with catchy guitars.

The latest Mumford & Sons release, Babel, may appeal to Grammy judges, though it’s not a patch on the finest English folk rock once made by Fairport Convention.

One of the most dramatic returns, after 27 years, was from Come on Eileen stars Dexys Midnight Runners, now just trading as Dexys. Singer Kevin Rowland told me that the title One Day I’m Going to Soar came to him after a difficult day. It certainly soars. WP-Bloomberg

Frank Ocean edges out Lana Frank Ocean edges out Lana Del Rey as best CD of 2012Del Rey as best CD of 2012

By Chris Richards

As the record biz slows down its release schedule over the holidays, we use the lull to highlight Lost Tracks, record-

ings that have gone largely overlooked in the past 12 months. It’s also our annual excuse to do the thing that all music scribes love to do: babble about what the world should be listening to.

So here are my favourite underloved albums of 2012:

Ice Cold Permby 100s

Cloud rap — that new-ish strand of hip-hop defined by the smeared, diapha-nous quality of its backing beats — might as well be a reference to the cloud that Wired readers talk about. As more rap-pers forge their identities online, the gen-re’s regional characteristics turn hazy.

This teenage rap rookie from Berkeley, California, is emblematic of the blur. As he aspires to eclipse the cool of West Coast legends Too $hort and Snoop Dogg, you can hear him repurposing the cadences of Southern greats Pimp C and Lil Boosie.

He also has an expert partner in Joe Wax, a young producer whose otherworldly tracks for Cali duo Main Attrakionz have made that group’s moniker feel like false advertising. Together, Wax and 100s prove that no matter where it originates, rap music is ultimately about the sparks that fly when a voice grinds up against a beat.

Kings and Themby Evian Christ

And now a quick round of applause for Tri Angle Records, the remarkably consistent electronic music label that scours the Internet for nerds making innovative music in the comfort of their bedrooms. This year, the label’s big find was Joshua Leary, a 22-year-old Brit

who was uploading music to YouTube as Evian Christ while he spent his days studying to become a schoolteacher.

Listening to the guy’s eight-track instrumental debut feels like navigating the charred ruins of a hip-hop album, as smoky synth textures curl around an 808 drum machine’s indestructible pulse. Leary says he’d like to produce tracks for rappers in the future, but for

now he’s given us some spacious, styl-ish, contemplative music that needn’t be clogged with too many words.

Pacific Standard Timeby Poolside

Does the 21st century need its own lounge music? This Los Angeles duo answers a question that nobody was really asking with 16 brainless, toe-tappy dance tracks. There are juicy synthesizers and cute falsettos, all locked to a mid-tempo grid, plus the most adorable Neil Young cover you could ever hope to hear (Harvest Moon).

Poolside’s only crime is that they’ve coined a silly genre tag for all this: “daytime disco.” Pffft. Even at 3am in December, these songs still retain all of their colour and cool.

Believe You Meby OMBRE

This collaboration from electronic musician Helado Negro and ambient vocalist Julianna Barwick is haunted by the ghost of Brazilian tropicalia in all of the best ways — chords are strummed on nylon-stringed guitars, and vocal melodies are quick to dissolve in reverb. (He sings in Spanish, she sings in vowels.)

Yeah, the whole dreamy-blurry-muffled-indie thing has been done to death, but there’s still a lovely dialogue taking place at the heart of this album. Listening for it feels like pressing your ear to a wall, trying to make out conver-sation in the next room. WP-Bloomberg

The best 2012 albums you probably missed

HEALTH 7

Health Tipsfrom DOCTOR

Did you know Vitamin D deficiency has

been linked to cancer, diabetes, osteo-

porosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflam-

matory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and

autism?

And that’s just for

starters. Recent stu-

dies have also linked

this miraculous vita-

min to the preven-

tion and potential

cure of many other

devastating and debi-

litating conditions

including cardiovas-

cular disease, blood

pressure issues, high

cholesterol levels,

neurological system disorders, kidney failure,

reproductive system disorders, muscle weak-

ness, obesity, disorders of the skin and even

tooth decay.

The problem is 85 percent of us are not get-

ting enough of this “sunshine vitamin” which

helps fight bone loss, infection, and abnormal

cell growth.

So why are we so D’ – ficient?Decades ago, most of us worked out in the

sunshine, and absorbed approximately 10.000

– 20,000 IU of vitamin D in 15 minutes. That’s

many times more than the current FDA requi-

rements of between 200 and 400IU.

But for the past twenty or thirty years, the

medical establishment has been screaming

that “sunlight is dangerous for your health”...

and telling you to cover yourselves with suns-

creen, even though there is no real evidence

the sun’s UV rays when used wisely cause

cancer.

A diet deficient in vitamin D causes osteo-

malacia (called rickets when it occurs in chil-

dren), which is a softening of the bones. In

the developed world, this is a rare disease.

Low blood calcidiol (25-hydroxy-vitamin D)

can result from avoiding the sun. Deficiency

results in impaired bone mineralization and

leads to bone-softening diseases.

WARNING: Do not take vitamin D orally

without medical consultation as it could leave

you overdosing in vitamin D supplements, lea-

ding to a range of symptoms including nausea,

vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, heada-

che, bone pain, weakness, apathy and even

hardening of the arteries and osteoporosis.

Neha Saraf Specialist – Paediatrics

Healthspring World Clinic

Vitamin D deficiency

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

By Kathleen Raven

Adults with excessively dry hands were four times more likely than healthy counterparts to fail computerised fin-gerprint verification tests in a small new

study from Malaysia.“Because of the emerging use of biometrics in

daily living, I think hand dermatitis is an upcom-ing problem,” said lead author Dr Lee Chew Kek, a dermatologist at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur. “This can have effects on the economy, jobs and security.”

Fingerprints are still the most common unique personal trait used to identify an individual. Other measurable unique biological features include the iris of the eye and even keyboard typing patterns. Analysts have projected that the global biometrics market will be worth $16bn in four years.

Cracked or swollen skin can disrupt the unique crevice pattern found within individuals’ thumb-prints, which are increasingly used for security checks at banks or to access buildings.

According to an earlier study from Denmark, an estimated 15 percent of people worldwide will suffer from hand dermatitis - skin inflammation usually caused by an allergic reaction.

Lee told Reuters Health she provides hospital verification for patients who cannot have biomet-ric data encoded into a computer chip on their Malaysian national identity card, called MyKad, because of unreadable fingerprints.

To the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has investigated how often dermatitis patients fail fingerprint tests.

The research team recruited 100 patients with dermatitis affecting either thumb and 100 partici-pants with healthy fingers as a comparison group. All participants possessed readable MyKad cards.

Each patient had three attempts with each thumb to get an accurate match with a fingerprint scanner that processed the images and linked them to MyKad data.

Twenty-seven of the 100 dermatitis patients failed fingerprint verification tests compared to only two participants in the comparison group.

Eighty-four in the patient group had areas on their thumbs where prints were missing or skin appeared mottled due to rough skin. The larger the area of so-called dystrophy, the more likely a patient was to fail the test.

Abnormal white lines in the prints caused by wrinkles or cuts were found in both groups. However, when white lines appeared in prints, der-matitis patients had a greater number of them. Researchers guessed that the cuts may ruin the pattern of tiny ridges within thumbprints.

Despite the limited size of the study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, the subject is important for dermatologists to be aware of, said Dr. Pieter-Jan Coenraads of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

“Human biology is a lot more variable than secu-rity authorities would like to believe, I think,” said Coenraads, who was not involved with the study.

“Dermatitis is one of the many factors which can certainly affect fingerprint image quality,” Steve Fischer, spokesman of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services division told Reuters Health in an email.

Disruptions in fingerprint images do happen in the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which maintains more than 70 million print records, he said.

The FBI processes an average of 160,000 finger-prints each day with approximately three percent rejected due to poor image quality, Fischer wrote.

The division doesn’t have a record of how many disruptions are attributable to dermatitis.

Since hand dermatitis is not a rare problem, “there may be a significant number of individuals who will be handicapped by fingerprint technol-ogy,” explained Dr. Bruce Brod of the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved with the study.

Though most hand dermatitis can be resolved with topical creams, people who have allergic contact dermatitis - like the majority of patients in this study - may struggle with constant expo-sure to irritants in the workplace, according to researchers.

Health care workers who constantly wash their hands, a mechanic who must finger greasy bolts and nuts inside an engine or a chef who slices lots of garlic and onions between the thumb and index finger may develop hand dermatitis, for example.

“In terms of treatment for hand dermatitis, we’re still lagging behind. It tends to be a very chronic problem,” Brod told Reuters Health.

SOURCE: bit.ly/WGwnAI Archives of Dermatology, online December 17, 2012.

Reuters

Dermatitis can lead to fingerprint ID failures

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film

Gre

ase

, w

hic

h w

as

an a

dapta

tion o

f 19

72 B

roadw

ay m

usi

cal of

sam

e n

am

e.

“My fi

rst

three y

ears

were s

pent

in a

pub -

an

d ‘

Sum

mer N

ights

’ w

as

on

the

jukebox.

That

was

the fi

rst

record t

hat

show

ed m

e I

had a

futu

re i

n p

erfo

rm

-ance -

because

the p

unte

rs

would

put

the

money i

n a

nd I

’d m

ime t

o t

he r

ecord. I’d

do t

he w

hole

bit

,” t

hesun

.co.u

k q

uote

d

William

s as

sayin

g.

The s

inger is

know

n for s

ongs

like S

tron

g,

Feel, M

isu

nd

ers

tood a

nd C

an

dy.

Actr

ess G

wyn

eth

P

alt

row

is

set

to

rele

ase

her s

econd c

ookbook,

a c

ol-

lecti

on o

f her h

ealt

hy r

ecip

es.

The S

ha

kesp

ea

re I

n L

ove

sta

r, a

n a

vid

cook,

will

help

readers

improve t

heir

die

ts w

ith

It’s

All

Good

: Deli

ciou

s, E

asy

Reci

pes

Th

at

Wil

l M

ak

e Y

ou

Look

Good

an

d F

eel

Gre

at.

Th

e

new

book

con

tain

s

185

recip

es,

inclu

din

g h

um

mus t

arti

ne w

ith s

callio

n-

min

t pest

o, sa

lmon b

urgers

wit

h p

ickle

d g

in-

ger,

huevos

rancheros,

and p

ow

er b

row

nie

s,

reports

dailyst

ar.

co.u

k.

As

per t

he t

he b

ook’s

syn

opsi

s, P

alt

row

cooks

the n

utr

itio

us

dis

hes

when s

he w

ants

“t

o lose

weig

ht,

look g

ood, and f

eel m

ore e

nergeti

c”.

The b

ook w

ill

hit

sta

nds

in A

pril 2

013

. P

alt

row

’s fi

rst

book c

ookbook,

My

Fa

ther’

s D

au

gh

ter,

whic

h f

eatu

red h

er f

avourit

e f

am

ily r

ecip

es,

was

launched in 2

011

.

BO

LLY

WO

OD

NE

WS

Spie

lber

g to

rem

ake

The

Synd

icat

e

Kam

al H

aasa

n sp

eaks

on

thea

tre o

wne

rs’ p

rote

st

Vish

al B

hard

waj

take

s ov

er

Oye

Boy

chor

eogr

aphy

Wha

t enc

oura

ged

Robb

ie to

sin

g?

Paltr

ow to

rele

ase

seco

nd c

ookb

ook

By

Ro

nal

d G

rove

r &

Ch

ris

Mic

hau

d

Th

e dw

arfs

an

d elv

es of

Th

e

Hob

bit

: A

n U

nexp

ect

ed

Jou

rney

prevail

ed

at

th

e

North

Am

eric

an b

ox o

ffice a

gain

over

the w

eekend, as

its

$32.9

m in

ticket

sale

s to

pped b

oth

the s

tar-p

acked

musi

cal

Les

Mis

era

ble

s an

d t

he w

est

ern

D

jan

go U

nch

ain

ed.

Despit

e surgin

g past

Th

e H

ob

bit

on

Chris

tmas

day w

ith a

n $

18.1

m o

penin

g, L

es

Miz

managed o

nly

thir

d p

lace i

n U

S a

nd

Canadia

n s

ale

s w

ith $

28m

as

Chris

tmas

shoppers

retu

rned from

the m

alls

to b

oost

H

ollyw

ood’s

box o

ffice, accordin

g t

o s

tudio

est

imate

s.T

he H

ob

bit

, in

its

thir

d w

eek o

f rele

ase

, has n

ow

grossed $

222.7

m d

om

esti

cally,

W

arner B

ros

said

.Q

uenti

n T

aranti

no’s

Dja

ngo U

nch

ain

ed,

a w

est

ern s

tarrin

g J

am

ie F

ox a

s a s

lave

turned b

ounty

hunte

r, t

ook s

econd w

ith

an im

press

ive $

30.7

m.

Tom

Cruis

e’s c

rim

e d

ram

a J

ack

Rea

cher,

w

hic

h featu

res

auth

or L

ee C

hild’s

form

er

milit

ary invest

igato

r s

olv

ing a

fata

l sn

iper

att

ack, la

nded in fi

fth w

ith $

14m

, outp

aced

by P

are

nta

l G

uid

an

ce,

the B

illy

Cryst

al-

Bett

e M

idle

r as gran

dparen

ts com

edy

whic

h t

ook in $

14.8

m t

o n

ab f

ourth

.C

hris

Aron

son

, presi

den

t of

dom

est

ic

dis

trib

uti

on

fo

r F

ox,

said

th

e P

are

nta

l

Gu

ida

nce

perfo

rm

an

ce w

as

“just

a t

re-

mendous

resu

lt f

or o

ur l

ittl

e e

ngin

e t

hat

could

.”B

acked b

y a

musi

cal sc

ore t

hat

made it

a B

roadw

ay icon, L

es

Miz

surged p

ast

Th

e

Hob

bit

on C

hris

tmas

day,

collecti

ng $

18.1

m

to p

ass

Hig

h S

chool

Mu

sica

l 3:

Sen

ior

Yea

r w

ith t

he b

iggest

mid

week o

penin

g d

ay b

y

a m

usi

cal.

But

it w

as

not

enough t

o c

onquer t

he

Hob

bit

juggernaut,

whic

h s

cored its

thir

d

straig

ht

box o

ffice w

eekend w

in.

Univ

ersa

l’s

presi

dent

for d

om

est

ic d

is-

trib

uti

on N

ikki

Rocco c

alled t

he L

es

Miz

$28m

take “

phenom

enal, e

specia

lly c

on-

siderin

g w

e w

ent

into

the w

eekend w

ith

$40m

,” a

n u

nexpecte

dly

str

ong fi

gure f

or

its

first

few

days

in r

ele

ase

.“P

eople

really l

ove t

his

movie

, w

hic

h

is e

ven m

ore r

ew

ardin

g a

nd g

rati

fyin

g,”

R

occo s

aid

.L

es

Mis

era

ble

s,

wh

ich

sta

rs

Hugh

Jack

man

, R

ussell

C

row

e

an

d

An

ne

Hath

aw

ay,

benefite

d from

Osc

ar b

uzz

and

its

star p

ow

er,

said

Paul

Dergarabedia

n,

presi

den

t of

Hollyw

ood.c

om

’s b

ox o

ffice

div

isio

n, w

ho s

aid

he w

ould

n’t

be s

urpris

ed

to s

ee t

he m

usi

cal

pass

$200m

befo

re i

t’s

done.

Th

at

wou

ld

pu

t

it

am

on

g

th

e

Hollyw

ood’s

Top 2

0 b

est

-sellin

g m

usi

cals

. It

would

pass

the 1

972 fi

lm C

ab

are

t, w

hic

h

gross

ed $

191m

in b

ox o

ffice s

ale

s adju

sted

The

Hobb

it re

tain

s bo

x of

fice

crow

n;

Les

Miz

sta

rts

wel

l

PLU

S |

TU

ES

DA

Y 1

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

013

Kam

al

Haasa

n i

s em

broiled i

n p

ro-

test

s by t

heatr

e o

wners

ever s

ince

he d

ecid

ed t

o r

ele

ase

his

forth

com

-in

g fi

lm V

ish

wa

roop

am

on

DT

H (

dir

ect-

to-h

om

e)

pla

tform

ahead o

f it

s rele

ase

in

theatr

es.

The a

cto

r-fi

lmm

aker h

as

urged

the e

xhib

itors

to h

elp

him

brin

g a

bout

a

revolu

tion.

“You c

an

’t a

sk a

farm

er t

o s

top f

arm

-in

g just

because

he s

aid

‘no’ to

tradit

ional

plo

ughin

g a

nd ‘

yes’

to t

racto

r. I

con

sider

myse

lf a

farm

er in t

his

case

, because

DT

H

is m

y tr

acto

r an

d sin

ce I’

ve adapte

d to

change,

I request

not

to b

e s

topped f

rom

fa

rm

ing,” K

am

al to

ld r

eporte

rs.

Vis

hw

aro

op

am

w

ill

be

prem

iered

at

9.3

0pm

on s

ix D

TH

pla

tform

s on J

anuary

10, a d

ay b

efo

re i

ts r

ele

ase

in t

heatr

es

January 1

1. I

t w

ill

be a

vailable

on

Air

tel, S

un D

irect,

Dis

h T

V, V

ideocon, B

ig T

V a

nd T

ata

Sky.

“The fi

lm w

ill be s

creened o

n J

anuary 1

0 in a

ll s

ix D

TH

pla

tform

s. T

he

dig

ital

vid

eo r

ecorder (

DV

R)

will

be d

isable

d b

y a

ll D

TH

provid

ers

to

ensu

re t

here is

no p

iracy,

” K

am

al sa

id.

“Vis

hw

aroopam

” is

writ

ten,

dir

ecte

d a

nd p

roduced b

y K

am

al

Haasa

n

-- h

e a

lso p

lays

the lead r

ole

. T

he fi

lm a

lso featu

res

Andrea J

erem

iah, Pooja

K

um

ar,

Rahul B

ose

and S

hekhar K

apur in p

rom

inent

role

s.

In h

er long a

nd illus-

trio

us

career,

th

is

must

be

the

first

occasio

n w

hen

ch

ore-

ographer S

aroj

Khan

’s

work

has

been s

crapped.

Fil

mm

ak

er

Vis

hal

Bhardw

aj chose

to c

ho-

reograph t

he e

nti

re s

ong

Oye

B

oy C

ha

rlie

again

aft

er h

e fe

lt th

at

the

moves giv

en

by K

han

did

n’t

go w

ell w

ith t

he

mood o

f th

e s

ong.

Th

e

son

g

featu

res

Imran

K

han

, A

nush

ka

Sharm

a,

Pan

kaj

Kapoor a

nd A

arya B

abbar.

Aft

er K

han

com

ple

ted t

he

choreography,

Bhardw

aj realise

d it

was

not

what

he w

ante

d.

“Vis

hal has

the g

reate

st r

egard for S

aroj K

hanji. W

ho d

oesn

’t?

To h

ave

her c

horeograph t

he C

harl

ie s

ong w

as

a d

ream

com

e t

rue for V

ishal. A

nd

to h

er c

redit

she d

id a

brilliant

job o

f it

. B

ut

finally w

hat

Sarojji did

wit

h

the s

ong w

as

not

what

Vis

hal w

ante

d,” s

aid

a s

ource.

“The d

irecto

r h

ad e

nvis

aged a

n a

ir o

f unrehearse

d s

ponta

neit

y i

n t

he

movem

ents

. T

he c

haracte

rs

in t

he C

ha

rlie

song s

hould

n’t

look l

ike t

hey

kn

ew

their

dan

ce s

teps

from

befo

re.

To g

et

that

spir

it o

f on

-the-s

pot

improvis

ati

on into

the c

horeography,

Vis

hal had t

o r

elu

cta

ntl

y r

e-d

o t

he

enti

re c

horeography o

f th

e s

ong,” t

he s

ource a

dded.

How

ever,

Im

ran

an

d A

nush

ka,

both

extr

em

ely

busy

acto

rs,

readily

accom

modate

d t

he s

econd r

ound o

f choreography f

or t

he s

ong.

Apparentl

y, t

here w

as

a c

erta

in a

mount

of

all-r

ound t

repid

ati

on a

nd

mis

giv

ing a

bout

doin

g a

way w

ith t

he v

ete

ran c

horeographer’s

eff

orts

.“V

ishal, I

mran a

nd A

nush

ka felt

sorry a

bout

dancin

g t

o t

he C

ha

rlie

song

again

, m

ore s

o s

ince S

arojji’s

choreography w

as,

as

usu

al, b

rilliant.

But

they a

ll f

elt

it

wasn

’t w

hat

was

requir

ed,” s

aid

a s

ource.

Bhardw

aj reveale

d t

hat

he d

id i

ndeed d

o t

he c

horeography o

f th

e O

ye

Boy

Ch

arl

ie n

um

ber.

for h

igher t

icket

pric

es,

and p

ut

it c

lose

to

Ca

melo

t, w

hic

h s

old

$204.5

m i

n 1

967,

accordin

g t

o t

he w

eb s

ite t

he-n

um

bers.

com

.T

he m

ost

success

ful

musi

cal

is S

now

W

hit

e a

nd

th

e S

eve

n D

wa

rfs,

whic

h g

ross

ed

more t

han $

6.3

bn b

ut

has

been r

e-r

ele

ase

d

by W

alt

Dis

ney n

ine t

imes

since i

ts 1

937

prem

iere, accordin

g t

o t

he s

ite.

A r

ush

of hig

h-p

rofile

film

s in

Decem

ber

is e

xpecte

d t

o p

ush

2012

to a

dom

est

ic

box o

ffice r

ecord.

The c

urren

t record i

s $10

.6bn, se

t in

2009.

Jack

Rea

cher

debute

d j

ust

days

aft

er

the N

ew

tow

n, C

onnecti

cut,

school sh

oot-

ing s

park

ed n

ew

debate

about

the im

pact

of

movie

vio

lence.

Rea

cher

begin

s w

ith a

sn

iper k

illing a

handfu

l of se

em

ingly

ran-

dom

vic

tim

s. A

red-c

arpet

prem

iere a

nd

a s

creenin

g t

o p

rom

ote

the $

60m

produc-

tion w

ere p

ost

poned a

fter t

he D

ecem

ber

14 N

ew

tow

n t

ragedy.

Adult

com

edy T

his

is

40 s

tarrin

g P

aul

Rudd a

nd L

esl

ie M

an

n a

s a m

iddle

-aged

couple

was

sixth

wit

h $

13.2

m.

The J

udd

Apato

w $

35m

film

tota

lled $

37m

aft

er

two

weeks.

The s

even

th s

pot

wen

t to

Ste

ven

Spie

lberg’s

h

isto

ric

al

film

L

inco

ln,

wit

h

$7.

5m

for

a $

132m

dom

est

ic t

ota

l.C

om

edy T

he G

uil

t T

rip, st

arrin

g B

arbra

Str

eis

an

d a

nd S

eth

Rogen

as

a m

oth

er

and s

on o

n a

cross

-countr

y d

riv

e, pulled

in $

6.7

m f

or e

ighth

.A

lso t

his

week t

he l

ate

st J

am

es

Bond

hit

Sk

yfa

ll t

opped $

1bn in w

orl

dw

ide s

ale

s,

desp

ite f

allin

g o

ut

of

the w

eek’s

top 1

0

film

s at

the b

ox o

ffice.

Th

e H

ob

bit

w

as dis

trib

ute

d by T

ime

Warn

er

Inc’s

W

arn

er

Bros

stu

dio

. P

aram

oun

t P

ictu

res,

a un

it of

Via

com

In

c r

ele

ase

d,

Jack

Rea

cher

and T

he G

uil

t T

rip.

Com

cast

Corp’s

Un

iversa

l S

tudio

s rele

ased L

es

Mis

era

ble

s an

d T

his

is

40.

Dja

ngo U

nch

ain

ed w

as rele

ased in

th

e

Unit

ed S

tate

s by t

he W

ein

stein

Com

pany.

Reu

ters

The H

obbit

: A

n U

nexp

ect

ed J

ourn

ey

Les

Mis

era

ble

s

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013 FOOD10

Chicken Xacuti – Goan CurryIngredients:

• 1 kg Chicken (cut in 15-16 pieces)

• 1 sliced onion

• 8 curry leaves

• Oil or Ghee to fry

• Salt to taste

• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp

For Xacuti Masala• 2 sliced onions

• 8 cloves of garlic

• 8 dried chilies

• 1 inch piece ginger

• 200gms grated fresh coconut

• 2 inch long cinnamon stick

• 4 green cardamoms

• 6 cloves

• 6 peppercorns

• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

• A tiny bit of nutmeg

• 5 gms aniseed

• 3 flakes of mace

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

• 1 tbsp saunf

• ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

• ½ tsp mustard seeds

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds

Method:Rub salt on the chicken pieces and keep aside.

Dry roast all the spices on a griddle, keep aside.

Dry roast the grated coconut till dark brown in colour

Saute the ginger, garlic and onion separately in a little oil

till they are light brown colour.

Put all the roasted and sauted ingredients in a grinder with

1 cup of water and grind coarsely.

Heat oil in a pan, add sliced onion, garlic, curry leaves and

fry till they become brown in colour.

Add the ground xacuti masala and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Then add the chicken pieces and stir well. Cook till chicken

is done. Add 1 cup of water and stir.

Now add the tamarind pulp and salt. Serve with cucumber

(onion, tomato, chilies green, coriander leaves and lemon

salad ) Relish.

Divya T

13 Herbs & Spiced ChickenIngredients:

• 1 tsp oil

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp dried parsley

• 1/2 tsp dried sage

• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

• 1/2 tsp mustard powder

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper

• A of pinch salt

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp chicken stock

• 1 cup potato flour

• 1 cup cornflour

• 3 egg whites, beaten

• 1 Tbsp water

• 2 chicken breasts, skinned, deboned and cut in half.

• 2 chicken legs, skinned, cut into thigh and drum.

Method:Preheat oven to 165 C.

Heat oil in a heavy based pan, add oregano, parsley, sage and

thyme together until crisp, drain, cool and grind using a morter

and pestle. Place in a bowl and add mustard, turmeric, peppers,

salt, paprika, ginger, garlic and chicken stock.

Place potato flour and cornflour in a bowl.

Whisk egg whites and water together.

Dip chicken pieces in egg white mixture.

Roll chicken in flour and spice mixture.

Place on baking paper in a baking tray and cook for 30-40

minutes. Jamal

Chilli Popcorn ChickenIngredients:

• 500g skinless chicken thigh fillets

• 3/4 cup potato flour

• Sea salt flakes, to season

• 2 teaspoons five-spice

• Vegetable oil, for deep frying

• 4 tablespoons finely chopped lemon grass

• 4 tablespoons finely chopped red chilli

• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoon finely grated ginger

• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce

• 2 tablespoon fish sauce

• 4 tablespoons caster sugar

Dressing• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

• 60ml water

• Juice of ½ lime

• 2 teaspoons mirin

Lime mayonnaise• 2 egg yolks

• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 150ml grapeseed

• 2 teaspoon grated lime zest

• 3-4 teaspoons lime juice

• Sea salt flakes, to season

To ServeShredded iceberg lettuce

Coriander leaves

Mint leaves

Chopped salted, roasted peanuts

Method:Cut the chicken thigh into 5cm pieces and

pat dry with paper towel. Combine flour, five

spice and salt on a plate then coat chicken

evenly in spiced flour mixture. Heat oil in a

deep fryer to 180°C and deep fry the chicken

in batches for about 5 minutes until golden

and cooked through.

Heat wok over high heat until hot, add 1

tablespoon vegetable oil then add lemongrass,

chilli, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30-60

seconds until aromatic. Add oyster sauce, fish

sauce and sugar, then add the chicken and

stir-fry 1-2 minutes until thick and sticky.

For the dressing: Combine all the ingre-

dients in a bowl.

For the mayonnaise: Whisk the egg yolks

and mustard together in a bowl, slowly add

the oil, whisking constantly until the mayon-

naise is thick. Stir in the lime zest, lime juice

and season with salt.

To serve: Pile lettuce, coriander and mint

onto serving plate, top with chicken. Spoon

over the dressing, sprinkle over the peanuts

and serve with lime mayonnaise.

Mir Ali

WINNER

Chicken Treat In VinegarIngredients:

• Whole chicken, with skin and bone (medium size)

• 1 inch chopped ginger

• 10 cloves of garlic

• 6 cloves

• 1 inch piece cinnamon

• 5 cardamoms

• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds

• 10 peppercorns

• 5 green chillies

• 2 cup coriander leaves

• 1 tablespoon mint leaves

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• Red Vinegar 4 cup

• Oil to fry

Method:Clean and cut the chicken into half.

Thump the joints with the heavy chopper, flattening them.

Rub the chicken with salt, turmeric powder and a little

vinegar and keep aside.

Grind the spices and other ingredients together with

vinegar till it becomes a thick smooth paste.

Rub the chicken with the paste and let stand for an hour

in the freezer.

Heat oil in the pan on a high flame and quickly fry the

chicken on both sides, thereby sealing in its juices.

Lower the fire to a simmer, and add a little stock to aid

cooking.

Cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 20 minutes.

Take off fire and serve with the thick green gravy that

tops the chicken.

Serve with garlic rice on one side and sautéed onion,

tomato, capsicum ring.

Namrata Nitin

RECIPE CONTEST

Theme Nights:

Sundays - Surf Seafood Night dinner buffet@ QR 260Tuesdays - Asian Flavours dinner buffet @ QR 225Thursdays - Phoenician Night dinner buffet@ QR 235Saturdays - Turf Steak Night dinner buffet@ QR 250Mondays, Wednesdays & FridaysInternational buffet dinner @ QR 195Friday Brunch: 12:30pm - 4pm at QR 275 ORQR 250 with soft drinksSaturday Brunch: 12:30pm - 3:30pm at QR 250 OR QR 225 with soft drinks

Peninsula PlusPO BOX 3488, Doha,

plus@pen.com.qa,

editor@pen.com.qa

The theme for this week is

SOUP.

(Send in your recipe with

ingredients in metric

measurements). Winner will

receive a dinner voucher.

To claim your prize

call 44557837.

Oryx Rotana held its Corporate Clients dinner, an event dedi-cated to recognise and appre-

ciate its corporate clients and media in a glamorous ‘Dinner on the Clouds’ themed night that was held at Jade Ballroom at the hotel.

Kevork Deldelian, General Manager of Oryx Rotana, along with his team members, hosted and greeted the guests and personally thanked them

for their support since the opening of the hotel in August, 2010.

Guests were first welcomed into a charming cozy atmosphere accompa-nied by background music and escorted by hotel members into the elegantly -adorned Jade Ballroom. The resident “Jazz Club” Jazz 101 band set the mood and entertained guests while they helped themselves to the buffet range of endless delicacies. The Peninsula

Glitz, Glam at Oryx Rotana corporate clients event

Oryx Rotana team

11FOOD PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

By Emily C Horton

There are certain things we expect from pate, no matter its constitu-ents. We expect it to be rich, the flavour deep. We don’t expect to eat very much of it, but we expect it to linger. Those same qualities are what a vegetable pate is after, and it is, perhaps surprisingly so, adept in achieving them. Vegetables are by turns, and by treatment,

sweet, nutty, earthy, smoky, spicy. They can take on textures dense and smooth or ethereally creamy. The best in vegetable pate, then, takes philosophical cues from traditional pate — the depths of flavour and luxuries of texture — without aspiring to mimic them.

“There are two things you want in a vegetable pate,” says Amanda Cohen, chef-owner of the New York vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy. “One is a very strong flavour; the other is an intense depth of creaminess. . . . What you should expect is a very interesting taste sensation in a small bite.”

Almost any vegetable can be worked into a pate, but the ones that perform most successfully carry flavour profiles that lean on the side of sweet, with earthy undertones, and flesh fine-grained and dense. Think root vegetables, winter squash, or those not-exactly-vegetables, mushrooms. Nuts and seeds, pounded into a paste, contribute to a creamier, more substantial texture, as do legumes such as lentils and white beans, and fat.

A vegetable pate (not to be confused with vegetarian), then, is not about mak-ing amends for something it is not, nor is it a substitute for a pate made with meat. A vegetable pate should instead be a celebration of the vegetable itself, an exploration of what that vegetable is capable of expressing. And you don’t need to be a vegetarian to appreciate it.

WP-Bloomberg

For a celebratory spread, try a vegetable pate

Makes 1 1/2 cups (6 servings)Pounding the walnuts with a mortar and pestle

helps give this pate its creamy texture. Its deep purple colour looks striking in a serving bowl. Serve it with seeded crackers or thin slices of rye bread.

MAKE AHEAD: The pate will improve in flavour after a day’s refrigeration. It can be covered and refrigerated 3 days in advance.

INGREDIENTS1 pound beets (1 to 2 bunches, depending on size)1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped1/8 teaspoon sea salt, plus more as needed1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (nee NOTE)1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1 tablespoon vinegar

Cracked black pepper, to tasteMinced parsley, for garnish (optional)

METHOD:Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Wash and dry the beets, but don’t peel them.

Wrap each beet individually in aluminium foil and roast until easily pierced with the sharp tip of a knife, 45 minutes for smaller beets and up to 1 1/2 hours for larger ones. Unwrap the beets and let them cool slightly. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel them (the skin should come off easily), then rinse and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, mash the garlic to a paste with the salt in a mortar and pestle.

Pound the walnuts to a paste with a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle.

Coarsely chop the cooled beets and transfer them to the bowl of a food processor. Add the walnut and garlic pastes, the oil and the vinegar. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mound into a serving bowl and garnish with the parsley, if using, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

NOTE: To toast the walnuts, spread them on a baking sheet and place in a 350-degree oven, shaking the sheet occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully; nuts burn quickly.

Beet-Walnut Pate

Roasted Sweet Potato Pate

This smooth, sweet vegetable pate is perfectly complemented by the crunch of the nuts and the bite of the mustard.

MAKE AHEAD: The pate needs to be refrigerated for at least 3 hours and preferably overnight.

From chef Rich Landau of Vedge in Philadelphia.

IngredientsMakes about 2 cups (8 servings)For the pate2 pounds sweet potatoes (about

3 medium potatoes)1/4 cup olive oil, or more to taste1 teaspoon vinegar1/2 cup chopped onion1/4 teaspoon ground cumin1/4 teaspoon ground allspice1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon ground black pepper2 cups canned no-salt-added

chickpeas, drained and rinsedHot water, as neededFor servingWhole-grain mustard

Crushed roasted cashew nuts (salted or unsalted)

Baguette toasts

Method:Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Peel the sweet potatoes and cut

them into 1/2-inch chunks; they don’t need to be perfect, because they will be pureed. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the oil, vin-egar, onion, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet and roast until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool just a little, then transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Add the chickpeas and puree until smooth and creamy. The pate should be quite thick but still able to move around in the food processor. If it’s too thick, drizzle in a little hot water. Alternatively, for a richer pate, drizzle in more oil.

Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 3 hours and preferably overnight.

Serve in ramekins, accompanied by other ramekins filled with the mustard and the nuts, and offer toasted slices of baguette.

Beet-Walnut Pate

10. FEZ (XBOX 360)Polytron’s Fez is a multifaceted delight - every-

thing about it feels perfectly pitched. The platforming is elegant, tricky but rarely annoying; the puzzles fiendishly difficult at times but a delight to solve; the graphics and music gorgeous; and the core idea innovative and delightfully executed. Gomez, the cute and cheerful fez-wearing character at the heart of the game, picks up the ability to rotate his 2D world in three dimensions, and in doing so open doors to gather cube segments, save the world and unlock secrets about the world he lives in – deciphering coded languages and complex puzzles as he goes.

9. SUPER HEXAGON (IOS, PC)Simple, astoundingly addictive and brutally diffi-

cult, Super Hexagon is a beautiful game with a gor-geous chiptune soundtrack. With just two controls – left and right – you pilot a tiny triangle trying to avoid incoming walls of light in elegant, repeating patterns. As with creator Terry Cavanagh’s other work, the game unabashedly appeals to hardcore per-fectionists and challenge lovers, and there’s a genuine, visceral thrill in beating your own high scores – even by a couple of seconds. The first time you survive for a whole minute makes you feel like a god.

8. GUILD WARS 2 (PC)Guild Wars 2 lets players play together with-

out having to talk to each other. Dynamic events throughout the online fantasy world sees teams of warriors spontaneously forming to deal with enemy threats, and a removal of the standard class roles (big chap, sneaky chap, magic chap, medic) makes groups both easy and fun to be a part of. Up until now, World of Warcraft has been the benchmark for MMOs; it’s suddenly looking very old fashioned next to this.

7. WALKING DEAD (IOS, PC, PS3, XBOX 360)So this is how it ends – humanity scrabbling for

existence against the undead hordes, but mostly against each other. Walking Dead is a stark sur-vival adventure following an escaped convict and the little girl he somehow chooses to protect. The two drift into dangerously fragile relationships with other people; they lurch from one disaster to the next. The player is forced to make impossible deci-sions that always involve death and regret. Walking Dead is so many times more grim and terrifying than Resident Evil 6 it’s almost laughable. True, some have questioned how much choice you really have in the game – but then, that’s the whole point. In the end, it doesn’t matter.

6. SPELUNKY (PC, XBOX 360)Derek Yu’s Spelunky, which evolved from PC

freeware to XBLA download this year (and therefore had its first commercial release in 2012, qualifying it for this list), is a dungeon crawling 2D Rogue-like in which you explore randomly generated mines in the hope of finding great treasures and rescuing dis-tressed damsels. More often than not, though, what you actually find is sudden death, thanks to spikes, traps, angry shopkeepers and a range of unpleasant animals. The fun of the game is as much in the sto-ries it generates as the pleasure of the platforming, and playing is an exercise in overcoming failure – repeated, grinding, permanent failure – to find great glee in the occasions when everything just happens to go right.

5. FAR CRY 3 (PC, PS3, XBOX 360)From the very first moments it grabs you and

pulls you in; you are on the island – and there you stay. Far Cry 3 is the rarest of games: an open-world adventure that also works as a compelling narra-tive thrill-ride. The descent of Jason Brody, from party guy to vengeful killer, is brutal and convinc-ing – it is the story arc of the slasher flick, grafted into a Joseph Conrad novel. But beyond the violent action is the island itself, a lush paradise, teeming with wildlife. It is a place you want to explore, not just because of the bonus items, but because you want to see what’s out there. And usually what’s out there is danger. It calls you from the darkness. You always answer.

4. BORDERLANDS 2 (PC, PS3, XBOX 360)Pandora is a planet where subtlety is extinct;

it has been hounded out of existence by roaming bands of maniacs and midgets with machine guns. What remains is violence and really idiotic humour. Borderlands 2 retains the blueprint of the first game – shooting, looting and leveling up – but adds a more coherent mission structure and a skill tree the size of a giant sequoia. It is a game that lavishes rewards on very capable players; a game with a brilliant antago-nist in the form of corporate madman, Handsome Jack; a game that runs and runs but never runs out of breath. And the co-op is so good it could save marriages.

3. JOURNEY (PS3)What is Journey about? Is it an allegory for life,

death and rebirth? Or something more elusive? Whatever you think, for many players, thatgame-company’s three-hour adventure provided some of the most profound and emotional gaming experi-ences they have ever had. It’s not just the beauti-ful surroundings, the wistful lead character, the well constructed puzzles; it is the genius of the anonymous online co-op, the fact that strangers can help or hinder each other, communicating only through movement and sound. In a world of symbol and sense, everything has to be interpreted, and players must be prepared to give themselves to it. But whatever you give, you get back. What is Journey about? That’s easy. It is about how you feel when it ends.

And so the top two … We argued, we thought, we argued some more, but we couldn’t separate them. So for the first time, we have a joint number one.

-1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)Countless alien invasions later and still we are

drawn to save the world. Our stories reflect our col-lective fears: the fear of not being alone in space; the fear of being alone in space. XCom is an evergreen cliche then not least in terms of its aesthetic, which chooses the unfashionable get-up and colouring of 90s sci-fi b-movies. But in play never has the strat-egy game seemed so vibrant, malleable, resolute. It’s Advance Wars, in essence, but where line of sight, weapon choice and human fallibility all play their disruptive part. And in the opportunity to name each soldier, we have have the opportunity to name the ways our hearts break when the worst happens on the battlefield – at least till the next conscript turns up back at the base.

-1. DISHONORED (PC, PS3, XBOX 360)The art team behind Dishonored spent almost

four years devising and concepting Dunwall – it seems that not a moment was wasted. This is one of the most fully realised fictitious environments that gaming has ever seen, a plague-ridden Victorian hellhole of warring artistocrats, moustached gangsters and blood-vomiting paupers. Into this Dickensian nightmare strides Corvo, and assassin who is not an assassin, who doesn’t need to kill; who can slink silently along the steaming pipes and slated rooftops of this festering city. The effect is Batman re-housed in industrial Britain – a game of cat-and-mouse plotting, patience, deviousness and occasional bursts of sword-swirling violence. It is an engrossing, consuming game, beautifully made, deeply cared for and swaggeringly confident. It is a joy. The Guardian

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013 TECHNOLOGY12

Top10 games of 2012

COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaJanuary 1, 1996

1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves1962: The Beatles failed an audition for Decca Records because “groups of guitars are on the way out”1993: Czechoslovakia ceased to exist, splitting into separate Czech and Slovak republics2003: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sworn in as president of Brazil, promised “a new style of government”

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia handed management of govern-ment affairs to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, following a stroke

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

ALL IN THE MIND Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

ABOVE, ABYSS, ACME, APEX, ATOP, BASEMENT, BELOW,BROW, CANYON, CHASM, CRATER, CREST, CROWN, DEEP,DEPRESSION, ELATION, ELEVATED, HIGHEST, HILL, HOLE,HOLLOW, LOFTY, LOWEST, MOUND, MOUNTAIN, NADIR,OVER, PEAK, PINNACLE, RAISED, RAVINE, ROOF, SUMMIT,TRENCH, UNDER, VALLEY, VERTEX, ZENITH.

Baby Blues Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Hagar The Horrible Chris Browne

THE DESTINATIONS/ DIRECTIONSRelated to the aspect:

Qab’l

Ba’ed

Sha’ri’ e

Daw’war

Ma ha’t bitrool

Isha’rat almuroor

Jiss’r

How to to use" Where- Aina" in different places:

Aina Al fun’duq

Aina Al ham’ma mat

Aina Al Matar

Aina Maktab al Mmudir

Aina Al Mustash’fa

Aina As’souq

LEARNARABIC

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

HYPER SUDOKU

CROSS WORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 Crowds around noisily 5 “In the Still of the Nite”

doo-wop group, with “the”

15 Beginning of time?16 Somewhat17 Korean War weapon18 Where to request a knish19 “___ the brinded cat

hath mewed”: Shak.21 Like sports cars, briefly22 Reagan-era teen, e.g.23 Modern-day stream25 Burgeon27 Like some shape

shifters?29 Cut bits from, maybe33 What “-” means in a

search query34 Big ring rivals36 Mark of a successful

gunfighter37 They cause blowups39 Like many disabled

vehicles41 Positions

42 Helped supply a sushi restaurant, say

44 Promotions may require them, for short

46 Chile’s main airline47 Yarn identifier49 Bar lines?51 Washout53 First bishop of Paris54 “Looky here!”57 ___ balls (chocolaty

snacks)59 1950 sci-fi classic60 Medium relative63 Mini successor64 Spy’s query at the start

of a meeting65 LeAnn Rimes’s “Love

___ Army”66 Like legal voters67 Take out

DOWN 1 Like some top-10

people 2 Like bull’s-eyes 3 One in a stag’s litter

4 “Aah!” 5 Tricks 6 1969 Peace Prize

agcy. 7 Certain stamp of

approval 8 Fifth element, per

Aristotle 9 Of atoms’ spatial

relationships10 The Hebrew Hammer

of the Cleveland Indians

11 J.F.K. speechwriter Sorensen

12 Horned mountain dweller

13 View from Memphis14 Kerfuffle20 Airport fleet24 It’s south of the Banda

Sea26 Hydroxyl compound28 Tinkertoy bit30 One of Henderson’s

record 1,40631 Off-and-on

32 Bit of paste35 2009 Tennis Hall of Fame inductee38 Common portrait

subject40 Beat43 Actress-turned-nun

Hart45 Abolhassan Bani-___

(first president of Iran)48 Clawed50 Russian playwright

Andreyev

52 Guideposts magazine founder

54 “’Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days” poet

55 Take on56 Universal donor’s type,

briefly58 Kitchen drawer?61 Traffic violation, for

short62 Okla. City-to-Tulsa

direction

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40 41

42 43 44 45 46

47 48 49 50

51 52 53

54 55 56 57 58 59

60 61 62 63

64 65

66 67

T H A I P E G S M A T EH O R N E A L A N B A T E SA R E N A E M B A R R A S SW A T E R B A S E P A I N TE C H E L O N T I N C T SD E A D O N D O N A H U E

C U R I O R O B ES T O C K S A N D S H A R E ST I V O T N O T EO R E S T E S A R R O W SP E R S O N L I B E R A L

I N A G A D D A D A V I D AB R I C A B R A C G O O E YR O C K S L I D E E L L I EO N E S E B A Y T E N D

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUEasy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

CINEMA / TV LISTINGS

08:30 Stars Cole

09:30 Omni Sport

10:00 Best Of Plus 3

Fa Cup Final

Chelsea V

Liverpool

12:00 Basketball Nba

Brooklyn @ San

Antonio

14:00 English Sports

News

14:15 Stars Lampard

14:30 Stars Rooney

15:00 Tennis Studio

15:30 Tennis Atp Qatar

Open

22:00 Stars Clemence

23:00 Messi Tribute

00:00 Rugby

International

Friendly

England V New

Zealand

08:00 News

09:00 Al Jazeera

World

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 The Stream

12:00 News

12:30 Witness

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Empire

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Stream

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 Fault Lines

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

23:00 Al Jazeera

World

13:40 Dynamo:

Magician

Impossible

19:10 Sons Of Guns

19:40 How Stuff’s

Made

20:05 How It’s Made

20:35 Scrappers

21:30 Flying Wild

Alaska

22:25 Fine Dining

With Bear

Grylls

23:20 Ultimate

Survival

13:00 The Living

Edens

14:00 Fish Tank

Kings

16:00 Shark Men

18:00 Animal

Intervention

19:00 Monster Fish

21:30 Monkey

Thieves

22:00 Shark Men

23:00 Python

Hunters

13:50 Ben 10:

Omniverse

18:25 Amazing World

Of Gumball

18:50 Adventure Time

19:40 Mucha Lucha

21:20 Young Justice

22:10 Grim

Adventures Of...

23:00 Ben 10:

Ultimate Alien

12:00 The Ladykillers

14:00 Airheads

16:00 Held Up (1999)

18:00 Joe Dirt

20:00 Coldblooded

22:00 Barry

Munday-18

15

12:55 Wildest Arctic

13:50 Wildest Latin

America

17:30 The Magic Of

The Big Blue

20:15 Monkey Life

20:40 Bondi Vet

21:10 Call Of The

Wildman

21:35 Animal

Kingdom

22:05 Profiles Of

Nature

23:00 Gator Boys

23:55 Venom Hunter

11:10 Marked For

Murder

12:40 Danielle Steel’s

Vanished

14:10 Danger Island

15:40 Love Or Money

17:10 Saved

18:40 While Justice

Sleeps

20:10 Juggernaut

22:00 Save Me

23:30 Consuming

Passions

14:05 Meet Me In St.

Louis

15:55 Two Weeks In

Another Town-

PG

17:40 Ride The High

Country

19:10 Show Boat

20:55 The Wonderful

World Of The...

23:00 Fame

13:00 The Nimbols:

Part I

14:30 Shark Tale

16:00 D’fenders

18:00 Kung Fu Panda

2

20:00 Good Boy!

23:30 The Nimbols:

Part I

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

GULF CINEMA

1Karma Yodha (Malayalam) – 2.30, 5.30, 8.30 & 11.00pm

2

Dabangg 2 (2D/Hindi) – 2.30 & 5.30pm

Life Of Pi (3D/Action) – 8.30 & 11.00pm

MALL CINEMA

1

Rise of the Guardians (3D/Animation) – 2.30, 5.00 & 7.00pm

Vamps (Comedy) – 9.00 & 11.00pm

2

Abdo Mota (Arabic/2D) – 3.00, 5.00 & 9.00pm

Truth Or Dare (2D/Horror) – 7.00pm

Jack Reacher (2D) (Action) – 11.00pm

3

Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (3D/Fantasy) – 2.30pm

Code Name: Geronimo (2D/Fantasy) – 4.15pm

Life Of Pi (3D/Action) – 6.15 & 8.45pm

Truth Or Dare (2D/Horror) – 11.15pm

ROYAL PLAZA

1

Abdo Mota (Arabic/2D) – 2.30, 4.30 & 6.30pm

Life Of Pi (3D/Action) – 8.30pm

Seven Psychopaths (2D/Comedy) – 11.00pm

2

Vamps (Comedy) – 2.30pm

Jack Reacher (2D) (Action) – 4.00, 6.30, 9.00 & 11.15pm

3

Paranorman (Animation) – 3.00 & 5.00pm

The Hobbit: An Expected Journey (3D/Adventure)

– 7.30 & 10.30pm

LANDMARK

1

Abdo Mota (Arabic/2D) – 3.00, 5.00, 7.00 & 9.00pm

Truth Or Dare (2D/Horror) – 11.00pm

2

Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (3D/Fantasy) – 2.30 & 4.30pm

Life Of Pi (3D/Action) – 6.30 & 9.00pm

Storage 24 (2D/Action) – 11.30pm

3

Playing For Keeps (Comedy) – 2.30pm

Code Name: Geronimo (2D/Fantasy) – 5.00 & 7.00pm

Storage 24 (2D/Action) – 9.00pm

Seven Psychopaths (2D/Comedy) – 11.15pm

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013

PLUS | TUESDAY 1 JANUARY 2013 POTPOURRI16

Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: plus@pen.com.qa / editor@pen.com.qa

Today in Qatar

Magida El Roumi ConcertWhen: 10 Jan 2013, 8pm - 11pmWHERE: Katara Amphitheater WHAT: Internationally renowned Lebanese singer Magida El Roumi will perform a unique concert in Katara’s Amphitheater, singing from her new album and a bouquet of her gold hits.

Yan Pei-Ming“Painting the history”When: 9am-8pm, Till Jan 12, 2013Friday 3pm to 9pmWHERE: QMA Gallery, Bldg 10 WHAT: Curated by Francesco Bonami, this exhibition profiles three types of history-makers and highlights the power of painting as a medium for recording historical events. Free entry

Forever NowWhen: Till March 31, 2013; 11am-6pmWHERE: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art WHAT: Forever Now proposes new readings based on the works of five artists from Mathaf’s permanent collection. This exhibition unpacks new narratives that posit a unique understanding of five diverse artists: Fahrelnissa Zeid, Jewad Selim, Saliba Douaihy, Salim Al–Dabbagh and Ahmed Cherkaoui. Free entry

Art of Travel WHEN: Till Feb 11, 2013(Sun, Mon, Wed: 10:30-5:30; Tue: closed; Thu, Sat: 12noon-8pm; Fri: 2pm-8pm)WHERE: Al Riwaq Hall next to the Museum of Islamic Art WHAT: A watercolour album dated 1590 was commissioned by Bartholomäus Schachman, mayor of Gdansk in 1604. It documents what he saw during his travels through the Ottoman Empire in 1588-89, depicting costumes and people, scenes of everyday life, festivals and ceremonies. The pages of the album are on display along with related artworks and documents providing visitors with a fascinating and vivid view back in time to the 16th century. Entry: Children Free, adults QR:25

Mathaf Student ArtExhibition: Transform When: Till Jan 13, 11am - 6pmWhere: Mathaf, Museum of Modern Art What: Exhibition showcases students’ work, ranging from installations, videos, paintings and mixed media sculptures to photographs.

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