outfocus february 2015

QUANTUM 8 | FEBRUARY 2015W W W . I S S U U . C O M / T H E F E A T H E R S

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYBODY

PHOTO: NEENA SABARI MENON

CONTENTS

CRIME OF PASSION SERIES12

ARIANA GRANDE20

06

12

18

20

24

26

COVER STORYcrime of passion. EP 1

SHANMU UNCLETV SUPERHEROESGRAPHIC TALKRESEARCH

CONTENTS

02

SHANMU UNCLE -VALENTINE’S?18

TREATISE ON MEDIA26

I don’t feel like watching movies these days. My favourite reason for that is that I don’t have the time. But in truth, the movies these days aren’t worth anything - well at least in here. Out of India, there’s always a lot of places to look for good cinema. In any case, I found a new passtime. TV series. Not the Indian variety involving multiple cases of tissue, but the hollywood variety - say White Collar, or Suits. They know what they do. Love ‘em. One of these is probably gonna be my valentine this year.

CONTENTSEDITOR IN CHIEF

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

COVER PHOTO

WRITER

AR MUTHU KUMAR

SGA THOMAS

NEENA SABARI MENON

SHRIKANTH VEERAVALLI

03

movies now

EDITORIAL

04

Welcome to OutFocus.

This is the eighth time we invite you to an issue of OutFocus, like an octave in music. We wish to keep welcoming you to OutFocus in many more issues.

#TenthEveryMonth

06

For some this might be hilarious. But here is the news that was trending on Feb 6 on all social sites.

And the big news is “The Russian President – Vladimir Putin might have Asperger’s Syndrome – 2008 Pentagon Study”.

While Russian President’s Spokesperson has denied the claim saying “That is stupidity not worthy of comment”, many had started questioning “What is the big deal about it ?”.

What happened ?

USA TODAY, using the Freedom of Information Act, obtained the copy of 2008 report and a 2011 study paper conducted by the Office of Net Assessment,

a secretive, internal Pentagon think tank that help devise long term military strategy. The 2008 study was led by Brenda Connors, an expert in movement pattern analysis at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport. This study theorizes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has Asperger’s syndrome, “an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions”.

The analysis is solely based on videos of Putin’s public actions, dating back to the year 2000. Putin is not the only public figure associated with autism. Some have speculated that Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Lewis Carroll, Andy Warhol, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart showed signs of the condition.

But wait what is this Autism ? Is

Asperger’s Syndrome same as Autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger’s syndrome, Asperger disorder (AD) or simply Asperger’s, is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENTmight be autistic?

COVER STORY | SGA THOMAS

07COVERSTORY

One of the main differences between Asperger’s and autism is there is no speech delay in Asperger’s, and the autistic symptoms are much less severe. Often times, individuals with Apserger’s have good language skills, but their speech patterns may be unusual, and they may not pick up subtleties such as humor or sarcasm.

According to the Autism Society, while children with autism may seem uninterested in social interaction, those with Asperger’s typically want to fit in and interact with others— but are incapable of knowing how to do so. Another distinction between autism and Asperger’s lies in cognitive ability. Autistic children may often possess intellectual disabilities, but individuals with Asperger’s by definition cannot have an intellectual delay and often have above-average intelligence.

What is Movement Pattern Analysis? How do they analyze based on a video?

Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA) is a comprehensive system for assessing an individual’s core motivations in decision-making processes, based on the disciplined analysis of nonverbal behavior. “Decision-making process” is used here to refer to the whole chain of actions involved in thinking through, making choices and implementing decisions.

Experts believe each individual has a unique “body signature” that tracks how one body movement links to the next. These “posture/gesture mergers” can lead investigators to learn more about a person’s thinking processes and relative truthfulness when combined with the person’s speaking.

What do both studies say?

2008 Study:

“His primary form of compensation for his disorder is extreme control and this is reflected in his decision style and how he governs,” the report says.

Experts studying his movements and facial expressions in video footage theorized that Putin’s neurological development was disrupted in infancy, giving him a sense of physical imbalance and a discomfort with social interaction.

The study also hypothesizes that Putin suffered an “insult” to his brain while he was still in his mother’s womb and that she may have suffered a stroke while pregnant with him. Researchers theorized that may have affected the way Putin thinks and moves the right side of his body. It concludes that Putin’s hard-wired personal style is likely to change very little.

2011 Study:

In 2011, Connors finished a study for Net Assessment on the interactions between Putin and Medvedev, who succeeded Putin as president between 2008 and 2012 and who is now Russia’s prime minister.

Medvedev, she wrote, is an

“Action Man,” who “is inclined to size up situations quickly and to do so in black and white terms, shunning subtler shades of gray.” Putin, on the other hand, “has very different predilections,” and “methodically cycles back to aspects of the problem facing him, continuing revising data to verify his research and confirm his priorities,” the report said.

Researchers are unable to prove their theory, however, because they did not perform a brain scan on Putin, but instead the paper cites work by autism specialists to back

their findings.

Many people comment that This study might be just to satisfy and intensify the West perception of Russia. Their arguement is Russia’s economic Improvement.

Under Putin’s eight-year reign the Russian economy grew every single year, with an overall GDP increase of more than 70%. During the same period, investments rose 125%, industry grew by 76%, and poverty decreased 50%. The average monthly salaries in Russia increased from $80

to $640, and the middle class grew from 8 million people to 55 million. As a result, Putin has maintained extraordinarily high approval ratings from the Russian people, winning his second Presidency with 71% of the vote.

And, yes! The Pentagon played down the study, saying it apparently never made its way to the desk of the defense secretary or other top decision makers.

- Sga Thomas,Associate editor,

OutFocus

08

09COVERSTORY

11FOTOGRAPH

NEENA SABARI MENON+91 9488859390

McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

RAYS FROM HEAVENINNOCENCE

12

When Siva brought his head up from the writing table, Sheela was standing next to him smiling with a cup of coffee.

Sheela asked ‘So my dear writer, how is the story coming up?’

Siva: Coming up? Where does it happen? I write 3 pages and destroy 4 pages. After all this effort I managed to complete the prologue today at least. Do you know it takes hours to come up with names for the characters? They should not be someone who is in the circle and at the same time they can’t be too alien either.

Sheela: Too bad that you are not letting me read the draft or help you.

Siva: Darling I want you to read the story in full. You are my best critic, but I don’t want the critic breathing down my neck all the time though.

Sheela: So mean you are. When I have ever said

something bad about whatever you wrote?

Siva: OK, those were just musings. Not serious writing in a creative manner. This would be different. I want to put my best foot forward and create a masterpiece in the very first story I write

Sheela: Yeah I know, anything you do you would want it to be the best, else you will never attempt the same. Some philosophy you have. So tell me the plot of your story atleast.Siva: If only I knew the plot I would have completed the story by now. The prologue seems to have come off well and if I keep up the pace it should be a week to finish. Then I will treat you with the story.

Sheela: Leave the treat with the story. Why don’t you treat me really today for some dinner? You had been buried in your writing table for the whole day. Maybe some fresh air will give you some respite and who knows you may even find a plot.

Siva: That’s a deal. Come let’s freak out. I am so thirsty for a beer already.

Sheela: How come you are never thirsty for water?

Siva: You always thirst for something that you don’t have. Water is plenty. Two thirds of the planet is water. Why thirst for that?

Siva: Hey, now that we are going out for dinner, shouldn’t we buzz Ram? He would love to join us.

Sheela: Siva, do you even know the idea of romance? I don’t know how you claim to be writing stories when your idea of a romantic dinner includes just your friend and beer. And I should be looking at your faces when you both become boys all over again and like a matron, I should chastise you and bring you both safe back. And sometimes I even feel that Ram gets flirty with me when he downs a few bottles. I am not for it.

Siva: Sheela, the last part is

A NEW GRIPPING SERIES FROM THE PRO -CHAPTER 2

13STORYSERIES

CRIME OF PASSION

-SHRIKANTH VEERAVALLI

14

blasphemous. I agree to all the other statements, but not that one. Ram is a gem of a guy. And I don’t know how you women easily forget the entire help one did in the past.

Sheela: Where did ‘women’ come in here? And what is this generalization? OK now that you brought in ‘women’, yes, it is only the instinct of a woman that says that. I know that he flirts and I also know that you will never accept it. Or maybe you don’t mind even if he flirts with me. Some strange sense of camaraderie you ‘men’ have!

Siva: Sheela, now this is too much. You should stop. Whatever it may be, let’s not call him today. Is this rule only for the day or would you extend it further? Is the next one about him coming home?

Sheela: Now that you have brought it up, I would rather have him away from everywhere. It won’t harm

us by the least chance.Siva was very upset with this but he didn’t want to extend the argument further. Maybe Sheela would come around some time later and as of now he should not push his argument any further. But Siva could not dismiss this as an end. He needs to resolve this.

Ram was the one reason for what they are today. Sheela being a Christian, no amount of convincing would make her parents accept him as a son-in-law. He even offered to get converted, but they were adamant. His parents were living in another planet. They were of the type who would think twice before letting in his friends who were of a different caste. He was sure that they will never agree to Sheela and he had made up his mind to forget them because he loved Sheela so very madly. His whole composure was out for a toss and he could not concentrate on his work, lost his job and he

could not meet Sheela too. It was then Ram stepped in. He suggested that they get married in a registrar’s office and start a life on their own. Neither Sheela nor he had the courage and they had the problem of communicating to Sheela through one of her friends and finally when they got to meet her, they made her understand. They needed to fight. Life without each other was worthless and they needed to take a call. But he had no money, no place, no job and no courage. All this was provided by Ram. He gave money, moved out of his home into a mansion initially and also managed to rope him as his colleague in his own company. They were already so close but this made them even closer. He cannot allow this to drift off because Sheela was shifty. And if only Ram knew what transpired he will disappear on his own volition which will bring Siva tremendous shame. Siva resolved to put an end to this soon.

2CRIME OF PASSION

15

“They were of the type who would think twice before letting in his friends who were of a different caste...”

STORYSERIES

17FOTOGRAPH

OH DEW! <3



18

I pulled over as I reached Shanmugam uncle’s house in Anna Nagar. I’ve been here several times and each time I feel like I’m in a sanctuary. I passed the gate into the walkway which lead through a garden to his house. We used to call Shanmugam uncle “the encyclopaedia”. You’ll know why when you meet him. I’ve never tried using the calling bell on his door – or had no idea if it even worked. He’s always outside, tending to his garden, or feeding his dogs… Regardless of age, he never rested. I found him softly whistling to himself as he noticed me and said, “ah… Rahul, how are you? I hardly hear from you nowadays. Too busy to meet uncle, eh?” I say, “Just got busy with my job uncle… I came to invite you to my wedding, it’s on 14th

this month!” “Oh Valentine’s? That’s nice! Touché!” “It was her wish uncle. I had no part in decision making!” He laughed pulling his entire weight. Then he said, “Do you know why Valentine’s is celebrated?” “Why it’s lovers’ day of course” “Is it? Then it should be called Lover’s day right?” “Now you’re confusing me big time. Is it lovers’ day or not?” “I’ll tell you why. It’s one of my favourite stories and oft told ones. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of St. Valentine!” “Ummm... Is he like one of the disciples of Jesus Christ?” “No!” he said and fell into

another fit of laughter.He continued, “The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend goes like this, during the times of a cruel dictator of Rome Emperor Claudius II, the King declared that no soldier shall get married. He did this to ensure the loyalty of the army and hence to keep up the morale. But of course it did not work. Valentine, realizing the injustice, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young soldiers in secret. Upon discovering Valentine’s actions, Claudius ordered him to be put to death.”“Hmm. Brutal, isn’t? What about the other one?”“Well, this wouldn’t be as brutal as the previous one,

SHANMU UNCLENEW INFORMATIVE SERIES BY SGA THOMAS AND AR MUTHU KUMAR

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY?

19SHANMU UNCLE

but a bit emotional. This Valentine was imprisoned for not accepting the Roman Gods. He gave his testimony in prison and through his prayers allegedly healed the jailer’s daughter who was suffering from blindness. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Other stories simply says that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. Whatever the case may be, we still lack evidence.”“So Why Feb 14? Did He die on Feb 14?”“That’s another interesting part of the story. Because of the abundance of St. Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, do you know that you can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year? Besides February 14, you might decide to celebrate St. Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or maybe you want to get a jump on the traditional Valentine celebration by feting St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7. Another interesting thing is this. Women might choose to honor the only female

St. Valentine (also known as Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. And the best part, the finale, The Eastern Orthodox Church officially celebrates St. Valentine twice, once as an elder of the church on July 6 and once as a martyr on July 30.”“What ?”. Seriously I was totally shocked. “But wait? Why Feb 14, the day of love?”“There are, as far as I know two theories. One theory states that English poet Geoffrey Chaucer who often took liberties with history might have created Valentine’s Day as “Day of Love”. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day–an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention. The poem refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate.”“Another theory is that this Day of Love might have it’s root in a Roman Festival Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order

of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. They sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The goat’s hide is stripped down and is dipped into the sacrificial blood and taken to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. And as a matter of fact, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. This festival was considered “un-Christian”, after the rise of Christianity but some believe that it might have Christianized as St. Valentine’s Day”Suddenly I felt a vibration. It was my phone. A missed call.“From your ‘Would be’ ?” He asked.“It should be”We smiled.

[More to come...

21SPOTLIGHT:TV SUPERHEROES

Here is a Hint:This music sensation is of Italian descent “half Sicilian and half Abruzzese” and has a half brother the actor and producer Frankie Grande.

Tough? Ok. An easy one – Cat Valentine?

Yes. Adriana Grande-Butera!

This American music artist was born to Joan Grande and Edward Butera in Florida. After her role as Annie and performing in the musicals “The Wizard of Oz” and “Beauty and Beast”, she wished to perform a R&B album which was demotivated by her managers. She later went on to act in the musical ‘13’ on Broadway, which gave her a National Youth Theatre Association Award for her supporting role as Charlotte. This also paved way for her role in musical “Victorious” which turned out to be her breakthrough.

‘Victorious’ Performance:After auditioning for Nickelodeon TV show ‘Victorious’ along with co-star Elizabeth “Liz” Gillies, she was offered to play the role of Cat Valentine. For this role, she dyed

her hair red every other week as executive producer felt that it would suit the personality of Cat. This role acted as a catalyst in her career and gave her a teen idol status. This also reprised her the role of Cat Valentine in crossover sitcom “Sam and Cat” along with Jennette McCurdy reprising the role of Sam Puckett from iCarly.

Musical Career:She also focused on her musical career, right from the season 1 of ‘Victorious’ strengthening her vocal range. She had done covers of Adele, Whitney Houston and Marish Carey. Her first musical appearance was the “Give It Up” from the Soundtrack of Victorious. She did her first single “Put Your Hearts Up”. Yet she disowned the track owning to its bubblegum pop. The music video for “L.A. Boyz” features Grande with her close friend Victoria Justice. Later she collaborated with Mika for a duet “Popular Song”.

She finally released her first album “Yours Truly” which went on to debut No.1 on the US Billboard 200 albums making Grande after Kesha to top on

Charts. With Millions of Copies sold, it became her Golden Debut. She was ranked No. 4 in the Billboard list of “Music’s Hottest Minors 2013”. She also joined Justin Bieber on his Believe Tour thereby starting off her own “The Listening Sessions”. She also recorded a Christmas EP “Christmas Kisses” which received Critical Praise. She was invited by the POTUS and First Lady to perform at the White House “Easter Egg Roll” event and “Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House”. Her Second Album “My Everything” went to become second Consecutive No.1 album in the U.S.

Generally of pop and R&B, Grande adds essence of funk, hiphop and dance. Her influences include Madonna, Destiny’s Child, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, India.Arie, Imogen Heap and Amy Winehouse and inspiration to purse a music career was Gloria Estefan. Possessing a four octave light lyric soprano Vocal range, she was often called as “New Mariah Carey” by critics due to her wide vocal range.

- Sga Thomas

ARIANAGRANDE

PRETTY, HOT AND VIBRANT - THE NEW VIBE IN HOLLYWOOD MUSIC

22



“SKY SCRAPERS”

23FOTOGRAPH



25GRAPHICTALK

PRODUCT DESIGN BY UKESH AND FRIENDS (McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE)

26

RESEARCH:

mediaA T R E A T I S E O N M E D I A

ARMUTHU KUMAR

27RESEARCH

A treatise on media, its development and its impact

Ar Muthu Kumar

The word media is a word common for all forms of communication, be it television, radio, newspaper, cinema, post or even literature. The first form of media we know is through oral language. Travelling bards and storytellers told legends of great kings and of Gods who were watching us, and entertained and educated the people. They brought news of war, tidings of festivals and stories of lands beyond the seas. They were responsible for the sustenance of knowledge through a great amount of the human era.

But the first evidence of physical media begins at Ancient China. Great scholars and masters of martial arts recorded their teachings on the

first ever paper that man made. Almost all of these teachings are lost because of a later dictator king who brought about a great revolution which unified the country under his iron rule. Unfortunately, for all the good that he did, he also believed that there must be only one authority and no other dispute. He burned down all the text books and burned those who resisted it. Later he also gave his name to the country – China.

Meanwhile in Egypt, India and Mesopotamia, they developed their own forms of written media. The Egyptians invented papyrus paper, Indians wrote on pine and other leaves and the Mesopotamians left their marks on stone. This culture of writing developed into literature and great poets and authors began immortalizing the age they lived in.

The first true media in the modern sense was developed. In the early period, books like the Bible were painstakingly copied by hand over weeks or months. A book was worth equal to a piece of land.

Then the Chinese developed the next greatest thing – print media. They devised the first form of print using pre-fabricated stamps. Once a page is designed on a stamp, it could be inked and printed almost indefinitely until the stamp wears off. This gave a great advantage over manually copying. Books were mass printed and published throughout the world.

The early 1900s gave rise to the technology boom. Everything was developed a hundred times faster after the industrial revolution. Electricity and radio waves were discovered, and gave rise to radio,

28

television and most importantly, cinema. Transistors became smaller and smaller in size and thousands of transistors were able to be programmed into a single processor. Computers were born. Furthermore, hundreds of these processors were able to be programmed into a single chip. The ICs (Integrated Chips) became popular and processors became microprocessors. One chip could do the work of a million transistors. When data was digitalized it generated the need for transfer of data. Local Area Network was quickly overtaken by the Internet. The internet was a powerful tool that could send data around the globe at the speed of light. Electronic media reached its peak when social networking sites popped up throughout the world. The usage of the internet exploded to several times and

a major part of the population has internet. The UNESCO has listed internet as a basic necessity. Today there are two types of media – print and electronic. Print media comprises of newspapers, magazines, journals, travelogues, books and even pamphlets. Electronic media on the other hand includes television, radio, electronic sign boards and the internet (online media). Online media can again be classified into – social networking, news sites, educational/informatory videos and documentaries, online libraries, universities and the like providing online education etc. The internet has no limits. But is it all powerful? Print media is the less affordable sibling. But as it is found, people find it more comfortable reading off a physical print than an online one. But since print media is expensive, it also tends

to be more trustworthy. Publication industries pump millions every year into printing newspapers and magazines and after all that, they want the people to believe what they write and so continue to support printing. This creates a cycle where the publisher publishes authentic content and the user continues to support it. If the authenticity is lost the support is lost and publication suffers. NoW (News of the World) has suffered a similar fate after their authenticity was questioned. Television and radio has always been a favorite ever since they were started because the audience finds it easier to communicate in their natural way – by seeing and hearing, rather than a man-made way called print. Writing and printing was not nature found. Watching an event happen in front of you is easier to grasp than reading it off print

29RESEARCH

But unlike print media, television and radio have to invest once, and it can be broadcast all over. When it comes to print, every additional copy counts; every print costs you money. But authenticity of television and radio are quite similar to print. Since it costs, they have to make it authentic, or as close to believable as possible. Advertising has taken advantage of this media and makes as much falsified adverts as they can make. Advertising does not affect the authenticity of the channel they are broadcast unless the channel endorses the product. This is a unique edge that was widely advantageous to the advertising industry. Movies are a type of indirect media. They don’t always claim to be authentic, but nevertheless have a

wide impact on their audience. There are funny stories about people jumping off roofs thinking superman or spiderman would come to the rescue. This kind of thing almost never happens from children reading comics or other print information. When something is shown with video and audio like in real life, it’s impact on the human (or any animal) brain is realistic. The mindset of the creators has turned to “we’ll show whatever we want, you’re gonna watch it anyway”. The internet, the last in the race, and undoubtedly the most affordable and easily available type of media, is also the least authentic. Anybody can own a website or a profile on a social network and post whatever they want. The internet has a huge impact on the

modern youth, and the influence creeps into children as well. Since the internet is also cheap and offers a variety of free content which can be updated at 3 x 108 m/s, who can afford to say no? The internet offers a large range of services and literally all other media become part of the internet. One can read books if he wants, or listen to radio, watch television (even download shows and watch later) watch movies or read other people’s status updates. The internet is both a powerful boon and a vile curse. It can work for you, or you can work for it. This may sound clichéd, but it’s the truth of the millennium. The most cautious may navigate this rough terrain and emerge successful.

Ar Muthu [email protected]

Y O U H A V E E N J O Y E D A P R O D U C T O F

THE FEATHERSW W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / F E A T H E R S I N D I A

PHOTO: NEENA SABARI MENON+91 9488859390


outfocus february 2015

Documents

aspergers syndrome

autistic disorder

asperger syndrome

autism spectrum disorder

autism spectrum disorders

pentagon study

russian presidentmight

neurodevelopmental disorder