sunday 25 january 2015 - the peninsula · sunday 25 january 2015 • [email protected] • • 4455...
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SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741
CAMPUS
TRAVEL
FOOD
HEALTH
TECHNOLOGY
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P | 6
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• Spanish National Handball team visits SEK International School
• For first-time visitor, Havana is charming and complicated
• You know the scent, now learn to love the flavour of roses
• Heavy soccer playing before age 12 tied to later hip deformities
• Xbox meets Windows 10: Will this end the PC v console war?
inside
LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly
used Arabic wordsand their meanings
P | 13
P | 8-9
Anne Hathaway: A beleaguered Oscar winner rebounds as an indie producer
TALES OF TWOTALES OF TWO SANDALSSANDALS
January temperatures are turning out to be considerably colder in Washington, but two residents are clinging to summer footwear. Outside the National Academy of Sciences, Robert Berks’s sculpture depicts Albert Einstein seated and sandal-clad, holding a book. Up the street, Gautam Pal’s Mahatma Gandhi statue wears the same footgear as he strides forward with a walking stick.
2 COVER STORYPLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
Washington memorials to Washington memorials to Gandhi, Einstein share a Gandhi, Einstein share a surprising common bondsurprising common bond
By Menachem Wecker
January temperatures are turning out to be consid-erably colder than the District of Columbia’s
relatively warm December, but two residents are clinging una-bashedly to summer footwear.
Outside the National Academy of Sciences on Constitution Avenue between 21st and 23rd streets, Robert Berks’s sculpture depicts Albert Einstein seated and sandal-clad, holding a book. A mile and a half up 21st Street, in the park circumscribed by Massachusetts Avenue and Q Street, Gautam Pal’s Mahatma Gandhi statue — a gift from India’s government installed beside its embassy — wears the same footgear as he strides forward with a walking stick.
Gandhi’s sandals, which, along with his eyeglasses and staff, were among the few possessions the man famous for living a simple life left behind after his assassination in 1948, are to be expected in the statue memorialising him, which was dedicated in 2000. Although Gandhi wore “proper Anglicised footwear” as a teen-ager, he opted, after his South African civil disobedience cam-paign, for “customary Indian dress.” That included sandals or
meant walking barefoot, notes Dennis Dalton, Barnard College professor emeritus and author of Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action. Gandhi’s “extraordinary effectiveness came from a determination to achieve consistency between personal and political realms in all aspects of his behaviour,” Dalton says.
Einstein’s clothing is consid-erably less iconic — and politi-cal — than Gandhi’s, although Trevor Lipscombe, co-author of Albert Einstein: A Biography, notes a famous 1945 picture of Einstein wearing sandals at the beach. Einstein also was famous for not wearing socks, adds Lipscombe, who directs Catholic University of America Press.
The story goes that Einstein sought sandals in a Long Island general store in the summer of 1939. Because of Einstein’s thick German accent, the shop owner heard “sundials.” He happened to have one in stock, and confusion ensued. When all was sorted out, Einstein purchased the shop’s lone available sandals — a women’s pair, reportedly size 11. “I think the story ends up with the store owner and Einstein playing the violin together,” Lipscombe says.
3PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
Berks’s sculpture of Einstein, unveiled April 22, 1979, was modelled on a bust that he sculpted from life in 1953. Einstein was dressed casually, and the sculptor decided to depict the scientist as he appeared, a move that Robert Oppenheimer resented in the late 1950s. “Einstein was the most audacious man I ever met, and you’ve made him a humble old man,” the physi-cist told Berks. Further criticism followed the three-times-life-size, $1.66m sculp-ture outside the academy. A 1979 Newsday article suggested it looked “almost like a vagabond,” and Paul Richard’s 1978 review in The Washington Post called it “gross as well as trite.”
Among the thousands of documents related to the sculpture in the National Academy of Sciences’ archives are many complaints to then-academy president Philip Handler. G M Temmer, the director of Rutgers University’s Nuclear Physics Laboratory, offered to chip in $100 to “defray whatever expenses are involved in stopping the project,” which he called an “abomination” that could “only serve as humiliation for those who try to hon-our him.”
History has been kinder to the sculp-ture and its attire. Lipscombe says Einstein’s “fairly casual” clothing and appearance make the sandals preferable to formal attire. And the book displaying Einstein’s research, which he holds in the
sculpture, also memorialises his intellec-tual achievement, adds Lipscombe, who admits he has grown fond of the piece over the years.
“Einstein had no real truck with certain conventions,” agrees Peter Galison, co-editor of Einstein for the 21st Century: His Legacy in Science, Art, and Modern Culture and a professor at Harvard University. The sculpture seems “to aim toward the older Einstein, more at ease than he was at earlier times,” he says.
Margaret Olin, who holds joint appoint-ments at Yale University, where she stud-ies theories about commemoration, offers a different perspective. “The Einstein sandals mean ‘casual,’ as though he takes his scientific work wherever he goes, even when on vacation,” she says. Gandhi, how-ever, is “purposefully striding in the attire for which he is famous.”
The sculptures are so different in style that Olin says “it’s unlikely that there is anything to the resemblance or a cross-town dialogue.”
But if you exit the Indian Embassy, cross the street and allow your eyes to dart immediately beneath Gandhi’s sandals, you’ll find the inscription: “On Gandhi’s 70th birthday, Albert Einstein wrote, ‘Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.’” WP-Bloomberg
Berks’s sculpture of Einstein, unveiled April 22, 1979, was modelled on a bust that he sculpted from life in 1953. Einstein was dressed casually, and the sculptor decided to depict the scientist as he appeared, a move that Robert Oppenheimer resented in the late 1950s.
The footwear on the Washington statue of Mahatma Gandhi near India’s embassy.
The sandals on the feet of Albert Einstein on his statue outside the National Academy of Sciences in Washington.
CAMPUSPLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 20154
Doha Modern Indian School held its 10th Annual Day cel-ebrations on January 21 and
22. Spread over two evenings, the cel-ebrations focused on rewarding the students who have proved their skill in academics and sports and showcas-ing the talents of students through cultural performances. The occasion was momentous for the school as it had completed a decade in the field of education.
Mariam Hasan Taleb Al Khauri, patron of Taleb Schools, was the Chief Guest on the first day. The Guest of Honour and the Director of Taleb schools, Jayashankar Pillai, addressed the parents and expressed his joy in successfully completing 10 years.
The tiny tots of kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 stole the show on the first day with their charming and graceful moves. The kindergarten stu-dents performed different dances of India where as the grade 1 and 2 chil-dren staged a Russian folk tale, ‘Twelve Months’. The Headmistress, Aruna Suresh proposed the vote of thanks.
Dinesh Udenia, First Secretary, Embassy of India, was the Chief Guest on the second day, when students of grades 3 to 11 portrayed ‘Navrasas’, or nine emotions, which are fundamen-tal to most of the Indian art forms. The cultural programmes started with a soulful medley put together by the school choir. The programme culmi-nated with the message by the anchor in the guise of a sage advising the dis-ciples on the importance of ‘shanth’ or peace.
Rakesh Singh Tomar, Principal,
DMIS, presented the Annual Report of the school, highlighting the activities and achievements of the school in the last year. The students received prizes and certificates for general proficiency, the highest mark in each subject and hundred percent attendances. Taleb scholarships with cash awards were also distributed to students who have scored more than 90 percent in all sub-jects. Students who won the champion-ship at the Annual Sports Meet and students who represented the school in the Nationals received their awards. Anugraha Arun of grade 10, received the ‘The Best All Rounder Award’ and the former head boy of the school, Hamad Yoonus of Grade 12 was given the ‘Deepa Gopalan Wadwha Award’ for socially empowered youth, insti-tuted in honour of Deepa Gopalan, the former Indian Ambassador to Qatar.
Udenia congratulated the winners and spoke of the importance of creativ-ity over rote learning. Jacob Mathew, Assistant Principal, DMIS, proposed the vote of thanks.
Also present on the occasion were Diewthy Chandran, Academic Auditor of Taleb Group of Schools, Jai Gopal Jindal, former Principal and a mem-ber of the audit team of Taleb schools, David Thorp, Principal, The Cambridge School, Jane Ballard, Principal, The Cambridge International school for Girls, Manjari Recriwal, Principal, Pearl School, A J George, Principal, Olive International school, Pradap Felix, Principal, Noble International School, members of Supreme Education Council and members of Civil Defence.
The Peninsula
The Bhavan’s Public School (BHPS), management and staff felicitated Prof K V Thomas, Indian Member of Parliament, recently at its Matar
Qadeem Campus. A presentation on Prof K V Thomas and C K Menon, Chairman, BHPS, was screened at the occasion.
Prabhavathi Nambiar, Acting Principal, welcomed the gathering. P N Baburajan, President, BHPS pre-sided over the function. Menon, in his speech thanked Thomas for accepting the invitation to visit the school and interact with the students.
Thomas, in his speech, applauded the school man-agement in setting up the school for the expats and appreciated its growth in the last five years.
Girish Kumar, President, ICC, also spoke on the occasion. The Chief Guest was presented with a shawl by J K Menon, Acting Chairman, BHPS, and a memento by R O Abdul Kader, Vice Chairman, BHPS, followed by an interactive session with the stu-dents. The other dignitaries who graced the occasion were Manikantan, Vice President, BHPS, K M Anil, General Secretary, BHPS, Anjana Menon, Director, Administration, and other board of directors. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by M P Philip, Head Master. The Peninsula
DMIS celebrates tenth Annual Day
Students showcasing their talent through various dance programmes while (top) sports champions are handed over the trophy by an official.
J K Menon presenting a shawl to Prof K V Thomas at the Bhavan’s Public School.
BHPS honours Indian official
5CAMPUS / COMMUNITY PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
The players of the Spanish National Handball team made a stop between training sessions
for the World Handball champion-ship to visit SEK International School Qatar, where they greeted more than 300 students and teachers from over 35 nationalities encompassing the school community.
SEK Board of Directors Concha Canoyra, Corporate Director General, and Marta Rogers, Director General of the nine SEK International Schools and SEK Qatar Principal Vivian Arif accompanied the players on a tour of the classrooms and library facilities.
The defending World champions were welcomed by members of the Student Council and the day began with a talk on “Hispanics” in the audi-torium. The players, led by Captain Raul Enterrios, shared their hopes, expectations and anecdotes in a Q&A led by the Primary and Middle school students.
The players took great pleasure signing many autographs. Students had taken the time to encourage the Spanish team with drawings that rep-resent the enthusiasm and motivation to inspire them as athletes.
The players were extremely generous with their time seizing the chance to play handball with a class of Preschool students in the Sports Hall.
On this visit, team players Raúl Entrerríos, Albert Rocks and Cristian Ugalde immediately felt at home within the international SEK family in Qatar.
The sport stars are currently study-ing at the University Camilo José Cela, belonging to the Institución Educativa SEK.
Vivian commented that “the unri-valled opportunities as part of the wider SEK internal network allow our local Qatar students to engage
in a wide range of sporting and intel-lectual pursuits ranging from skiing at SEK Les Alps in France to eventu-ally becoming a undergraduate ath-lete like the Spanish Word Handball champions who inspired our students today.”
The Peninsula
Spanish National Handball team visits SEK International School
The Next Generation School marks Prophet’s Day
The Next Generation School, Ain Khalid campus and Nuaija campus, celebrated the
Prophet’s Day to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The programme began with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by Naat. Students from Year III, IV, VII and VIII demonstrated a short play practicing the basic teachings according to the Sunnah of Prophet. The play was followed by a short speech narrating the Hadith and teach-ings of the Prophet and performed activities of greetings, Wudhu, etiquettes of drinking water according to the Sunnah.
The school CEO, Shagufta Bakali, addressed the audience about the significance of the month of Rabi ul Awal.
The Peninsula
Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar (BUQ) recently organised an informal literary ses-
sion over lunch at Asiana restaurant with Canada-based physician, promi-nent Urdu scholar Dr Syed Taqi Abedi.
Dr Abedi was welcomed by the Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar’s Chairman Faisal Hanif Khayal. Dr Abedi came all the way from Canada to participate in Iqbal seminar organized by Iqbal Academy Middle East, and Faiz Seminar and poetry symposium organised by Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar. Dr Abedi has authored more than 37 books on different sub-jects of prose, poetry, and critiques with creative research in Urdu, Persian and English languages. His compilation
in Persian language includes two vol-umes of poetry of eighteenth century noted poet Mirza Ghalib.
In Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar’s session, Dr Abedi spoke about Mirza Salamat Ali Dabeer (1803–1875), a noted Urdu poet who excelled and perfected the art of Marsiya writing.
This special sitting was attended by Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar’s President Mohammed Rafiq Shad Akolvi, General Secretary Iftekhar Raghib, Abdul Ghaffar, Syed Abdul Hye, India Urdu Society Founder President Jaleel Nizami, Vice President Ateeq Anzar, Zafar Siddiqui, Aligarh association President Ali Imran, Ashraf Siddiqui,
Bazm’s Communication Officer Wazir Ahmed Wazir, Bazm’s Vice President Feroz Khan, Afsar Asemi, Abdul
Majeed, Shamsul Haq Azad, Ghufran Siddiqui, and Bazm’s media secretary Roase Mumtaz. The Peninsula
BUQ hosts session with Canadian scholar
Dr Syed Taqi Abedi with Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar officials and other guests.
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 20156 TRAVEL
Bradley Klapper offers afirst-person perspective about visiting Havana for the first time.
Everyone warns you Old Havana is a facade, but it’s impossible not to be taken by its charms.
In my hotel room, the soft sound of gui-tars enters from the balcony. In the cobblestone street below, I enjoy a cigar and watch a teenage girl introduce her boyfriend to her parents as they sit on a bench and pass a cigarette back and forth.
Everyone moves in slow motion.The area is greener than I imagined, with trees
sprouting sideways from oblong squares. Women stand guard in impossibly narrow doorways. Men play handball in the hollowed-out courtyard of one of the city’s countless crumbled edifices. Tapas cafes fill in the cracks.
For a foreigner who isn’t coming with predeter-mined notions of Cuba as global boogeyman or social-ist paradise, each alley and avenue, each conversation with a Cuban, complicates the picture. I’m nowhere near the first Westerner, American or journalist to visit Havana — and I know it. But I want to make sense of the place.
Many more like me could embark on this voyage soon. Although hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans make the trip each year and the intrepid traveller always finds a way in, the US embargo has blocked countless more from visiting a country just 90 miles south of Florida.
President Barack Obama’s decision last month to improve relations with Cuba and ease trade and travel rules to the island has changed all of that. The US government insists only certain groups of Americans may visit Cuba, but the elimination of a pre-authorization process means just about anyone can come.
Some of Cuba’s contradictions are immediately apparent.
In the Plaza Vieja, a Paul & Shark boutique sells sweaters for as much as a doctor here makes in months. The city offers new cafes and restaurants. Some of the best, I’m told, belong to people with con-nections to the communist government or access to expatriate cash, or both.
Propaganda is pervasive, though tame. The murals are worn and sometimes entirely rubbed out, leaving tones of delicate ochre across building walls where more of Fidel Castro’s citations and Che Guevara’s portraits once stood.
In the 16th century Plaza de Armas, an elderly man offers me Associated Press Wirephoto prints from the 1950s along with other relics of Fulgencio Batista’s period in power, along with the usual knick-knacks of the revolution.
Uneven signs of modernization are everywhere.The main thoroughfares are well paved.
State-of-the-art pedestrian signals are installed, providing second-by-second countdowns. They cut through neighbourhoods ranging from ramshackle glory to the plain shabby, where buildings strain to stand. At Havana’s old port, the halls lie bare and ghostly, a heaping mass of decrepit iron.
Iconic yesteryear Fords, Dodges and Chevys parade the boulevards, along with humbler Russian-made cars of the post-revolution era. There are plenty of new cars, too, though you have to wonder where they all come from. The official price of a Peugeot can reach $250,000.
Driving around, you see the magical and the mundane of Cuba’s capital. Along with the grand hotels once frequented by Frank Sinatra and Ernest Hemingway, there are schools, athletic centres and countless public places where people gather.
If my French sounds like a Spanish cow, I speak Spanish like a French donkey — that is to say, enough to get by but hardly enough to impress. My driver only speaks Spanish. He guides me to the right word when I dip into French or Italian. Many younger folks
speak English. Everyone speaks of family in Florida and New York, or even Oregon.
There is no sense of “us” and “them.” My driv-er’s daughter and granddaughter live in Miami. At Santy’s, a swanky fish joint, an ascot-wearing guitar-ist talks of his son who reached the United States by raft. He says his son is Ojani Noa, the first husband of American singer Jennifer Lopez.
The US government often hails the entrepre-neurial spirit of Cubans. It doesn’t come naturally to all of them. A taxi driver takes me to the upscale Vedado neighbourhood one evening and can’t break the equivalent of a $20 bill. In fact, he has no money on him whatsoever. The customer, he says, should have exact change.
If you ask about politics, the response often starts with a deep breath or shrug. Cubans are mostly interested in economic improvement, one invari-ably hears, and an intangible “normal” in their lives.
Along the seaside promenade, the Malecon, groups of teenagers enjoy the evening air. Lovers embrace. The police are everywhere. AP
People ride in an Ural Soviet motorcycle in Havana.
People drive classic American car in Old Havana.
For first-time visitor, Havana For first-time visitor, Havana is charming and complicatedis charming and complicated
FOOD 7PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
By Aarti Sequeira
When it comes to romance, there can be no better floral answer than the rose. The bold red petals
entice the eyes from across the room, while that intoxicating fragrance draws you closer... closer... just a little closer until you find yourself burying your nose in the lush petals, ignorant to the thorns piercing your skin because your eyes are closed and your heart is going pitter-patter.
But, ah, to taste a rose. This is the flavour of love. And it’s waiting patiently for you in the international aisle of your supermarket in a small bottle of rosewater.
One whiff of the stuff and you’ll be transported to another time and place. You’ll go to ancient Persia where the royals perfumed their skin, courts and pilafs with it. You’ll dream of the Middle East where rosewater anoints flaky pastries and chewy nougats. You’ll be transported to India where creamy ice creams and puddings burst with a floral bounty. Rosewater was even used at the finest bakeries in Paris once upon a time, before vanilla beans became the essence of choice in baking.
Made from distilling real rose pet-als, rosewater is an easy way to add a touch of the exotic to your cooking. A
few drops in whipped cream or rice pudding transform the mundane to the sublime. Any strawberry, rasp-berry or rhubarb dessert bursts with the essence of springtime when sprin-kled with a little rosewater.
Another classic combination is rose-water, cardamom and pistachio, which flavours many Persian ice creams. Try adding the trio to readymade vanilla ice cream at home! And if that sounds too exotic, try it paired with another more familiar soul mate, lemon, as I do in these easy shortbread cookies. They’re sure to add a touch of romance to your kitchen (and hopefully, your life!).
Rosewater Shortbread Cookies
If you opt to decorate these cookies with rose petals, be sure to only use those labelled as edible.
Start to finish: 1 1/2 hoursMakes 18 cookies
Ingredients1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter,
room temperature
1/4 cup (1 ounce) powdered sugar2 teaspoons lemon zest2 teaspoons rosewater1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flourGenerous pinch of salt7 ounces white chocolate chips2 teaspoons vegetable shortening1/4 cup minced raw, unsalted
pistachios2 tablespoons finely chopped dried
edible rose petals (optional)
Method:In a large bowl, use an electric mixer
to beat together the butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest and rosewater until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and salt, then beat gently until just com-bined. Tumble the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form into a disc. Cover with another large piece of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment.
Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap from the dough. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as possible from the dough. Re-roll the dough scraps to cut additional cookies. Transfer the hearts
to the parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between them. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottoms and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
To decorate the cookies, bring a medium saucepan filled with about 1 inch of water to a simmer. Set a medium bowl over it. Add the white chocolate chips and vegetable short-ening to the bowl and melt, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, mix together the pistachios and rose petals.
One at a time, dip one side of each cookie into the melted chocolate, allowing any excess to drip off. Before the chocolate on the cookie has time to cool and set, sprinkle it with the pistachio-rose petal mixture. Pause for a few seconds to let it cool off, then place on a wire rack to cool. Store cookies in a single layer in a paper towel-lined airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition information per serving: 150 calories; 90 calories from fat (60 percent of total calories); 10 g fat (6 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 15 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 2 g protein; 25 mg sodium.
Aarti Sequeira is the author of Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul. AP
You know the scent, You know the scent, now learn to love now learn to love the flavour of rosesthe flavour of roses
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015 ENTERTAINMENT8 9
By Emily Yahr
Anne Hathaway, endlessly brimming with positivity, has never been shy talking about the sudden storm of
bad press she received around the time of her 2013 Oscar win for Les Miserables, when many cultural com-mentators (OK, bloggers) sniped about the actressy exuberance she displayed on the award season circuit.
The backlash took a toll on her self-esteem, she has said, which she had to work to rebuild. So has the experience affected her decision-making in the type of roles she takes on now?
“I can’t say that it has,” Hathaway says very politely by phone in a recent interview.
Then there is silence. And it’s clear she’s done with the topic.
Ultimately, Hathaway doesn’t have to say anything else. Her body of work speaks for itself pretty well as she navigates the treacherous waters of being an A-list actress. Fresh off Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Interstellar, Hathaway’s new leading role in indie film musical “Song One” is doubly challenging, as she also serves as a producer for the first time.
She didn’t anticipate taking on both roles when she first heard of the movie in 2011, a few months after her doomed attempt at co-hosting the Academy Awards with a listless James Franco. Looking to shake things up and pro-duce movies with her husband, Adam Shulman, Hathaway was intrigued by
“Song One,” a script she was sent by her Rachel Getting Married director Jonathan Demme.
The musical film was written and directed by Kate Barker-Froyland, who worked with Hathaway as a director’s assistant on a The Devil Wears Prada. That smash hit, also starring Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt, catapulted Hathaway into Hollywood’s top ranks after she had already won acclaim for everything from Ella Enchanted to Brokeback Mountain, and her first big break in Disney’s The Princess Diaries.
Song One tells the story of Franny, an anthropologist studying abroad who returns home to New York City when her estranged younger brother, Henry (Ben Rosenfield), is hit by a car and slips into a coma. Desperate to stay connected to her brother, an aspiring musician, Franny falls into a relation-ship with Henry’s favourite singer-songwriter, James Forrester (Johnny Flynn).
Hathaway, 32, immediately felt a connection with the lost-soul charac-ter, who is haunted by her last conver-sation with her brother, a fight over his decision to drop out of college. But she didn’t presume she could seize the starring role. Plus, the character was only 24.
“I am many things, but I am not a 24-year-old,” Hathaway joked. But when she and Shulman met with Barker-Froyland about producing the film, she couldn’t resist pitching herself as the lead. Unsurprisingly, the new writer/director was pretty psyched
about the idea of attaching a brand-name star to her indie film.
“I started thinking about it and was like, ‘You know what? She’s perfect for the part, actually,” Barker-Froyland said. “I cast her a couple days later and basically got to re-write the script with her in mind. That’s really cool when you can write for someone like that.”
Signing Hathaway as producer also paid off when she got her close friends, famed songwriting duo Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice, to write the songs for the movie. Hathaway — who always considered Lewis one of her musical idols — didn’t dare ask them outright. Instead, she coyly sent Rice the script, asking him fact-check it from a musi-cian’s perspective.
“Johnny came back and said, ‘It’s really good, I actually really like the script. Who’s writing the music?’” Hathaway recalls. “We said, half-jok-ing but deadly serious, ‘You, if you want to!’”
And so they did — a soundtrack of haunting indie-folk tunes that echo Franny’s emotions throughout the movie as her affair with James builds. They wander Brooklyn and record sounds that they bring back to the hospital to play for Henry, hoping he wakes up. Along the way, James finds himself working through his paralyzing writers’ block.
Hathaway hopes the movie’s over-arching theme of the healing power of music will speak to audiences, just as it speaks to Franny. “She hears James’s lyrics, and his lyrics are so incredible,
and they actually wind up speaking to exactly where she’s at in this precise moment of her life,” Hathaway said. “And they electrify her. They root her to the ground. They get her in touch with stuff she wasn’t willing to look at.”
The star gets to sing a bit in the movie, though it’s nothing like Hathaway’s wrenching I Dreamed a Dream, which helped land her the Oscar for Les Miserables. Which was fine with her.
“I was relieved that the performance had another focus,” Hathaway said. “And also, you know, that it felt true to the character to have her be musically tentative, and not necessarily out there. She’s not a performer.”
She went from filming Song One, one of the smallest movies she’s ever done, to Interstellar, the biggest movie of her career, two wildly different experiences. But she savored the duties of producer on the low-budget flick — she was the person who had to fetch ice packs on a sweltering day to cool the actor playing Henry under his thick hospital blan-kets on a non-air-conditioned set. (“I was so worried about him having a heat stroke,” Hathaway remembers.)
Hathaway hopes the “little, oddball” film, as she calls it, catches on. So far, she’s heard from fans who had family members fall into a coma who have con-nected deeply with the movie.
“It’s very humbling for people to share that part of themselves with you, and very humbling to know that you made a film that allows them to revisit that in a way,” she said. WP-Bloomberg
BOLLYWOOD NEWS
HOLLYWOOD NEWS
Documentary on Bill Clinton stalled
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s documentary of former US President Bill Clinton has been stalled due to reported arguments between
the two.Considering the strong possibility that Hillary Clinton is planning
her own presidential run in 2016, her husband also reportedly wants the documentary’s final cut to ensure nothing that can harm her it is aired. Scorsese, for his part, is reluctant to give up the reins of the editing room, reports nytimes.com.
Because of this, as well as daughter Chelsea Clinton’s supposed involvement in the partly HBO-backed film, the documentary’s pro-duction is currently at a standstill. When asked about the lingering disagreement between Scorsese and Clinton, a spokesman for the 42nd US president termed the allegations “inaccurate”.
Although Scorsese didn’t comment, an HBO representative said of the documentary: “It’s not happening soon but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”
Scorsese is currently in Taiwan working on pre-production for his 2016 film Silence.
I was terrified of being alone: Lopez
Actress Jennifer Lopez, who split from her husband Marc
Anthony in 2012, says she was always “terrified” of being alone. Lopez’s divorce was finalised in 2014, and Anthony has since remarried. Now, Lopez, whose twins — Emme Anthony and Max Anthony — have graced the cover of People magazine for the second time in six years, has spoken to the magazine about the ‘fear’ she wanted to face, reports eonline.com.
Recalling their breakup, the Boy Next Door actress said: “It was awful. But I had to make a commitment to myself to be alone — no flirting. No possibility of anything. No boys in any way, shape or form. I said, ‘I’m shutting it down.’ I’d never been alone. I grew up sleeping in a bed with my two sisters.”
“When I became famous, I was surrounded by people and always
had a boyfriend or a husband or some relationship, one after the other. At night I said to myself, ‘You’re not working. The kids are asleep. What do you like to do, Jen?’ I didn’t know. It was always, ‘What does he want to do?’
“It was very eye-opening to me to spend time completely by myself. I was terrified of being alone: The idea that we are alone in this world, we were born alone, we die alone-it sent panic through my body. I said, ‘I have to face this fear,’ and I did,” she added.
Mike Tyson up for music career?
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who has been announced as a featured artist in Madonna’s new album, says he would love to
try his luck in the music industry.The experience of working on the track “Iconic” along with Chance
the Rapper, made Tyson believe he’d be a great solo artist, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Speaking to Rolling Stones magazine, Tyson said: “Doing the song with Madonna makes me think this (music career) could really happen.
“Most guys that come in there drink a bunch of liquor or smoke 100 blunts. I just went in and boom, one take. Everyone thought it was cool.”
Baby: A roller-coaster rideFilm: BabyActors: Akshay Kumar, K K Menon, Tapsee Pannu, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Mikaal Zulfikar, Rashid NaazWriter-Director: Neeraj Pandey
Don’t move! The concept of the edge-of-the-seat thriller seems to have been invented for Neeraj Pandey’s enormously engaging take on international terrorism.
With Baby, Pandey immediately and irreversibly joins the ranks of the finest contemporary filmmakers of our times.
Outwardly Baby, with its theme of a bunch of bravehearts apprehending international terrorists at the risk of their own lives and their family’s well being, has nothing to offer that we haven’t seen in several films in the counter-terror genre before. What places Baby far above the routine thrillers is its refreshing lack of circumvention in the storytelling.
Straight away Pandey’s film takes us inside the life of counter-terrorism expert Ajay (Akshay Kumar) as he grapples to locate a colleague who has been betrayed by one of their own and taken hostage by terrorists.
In Baby there is a palpable predilection for building unbearably sus-penseful action sequences without losing the essential authenticity of the situation. All through the riveting drama, Ajay and his team (Tapsee Pannu, Rana Daggubati and other splendidly in-character actors who show up with him in different sections of the narrative) push the envelope of counter-terrorism without toppling into the abyss of self-congratulation.
We sense we are in the midst of a very important docu-drama on the violence of our times. A part of the film’s edifying mood of bridled energy comes from Akshay Kumar’s screen presence. He is in control, powerful and effective without throwing his muscles around the screen to prove his heroic stature.
Pandey keeps the proceedings tightly wound, and yet we never feel the weight of the plot as it coils and recoils through a labyrinth of subverted idealism and crushed diabolism. The narrative is structured as a spiral of dread, doom and a kind of romantic hope of heroic redemption from the cesspool of terror-violence that grips the world.
Though nothing in the film’s design suggests any conscious attempt to create a mood-specific thriller, the film keeps us spellbound from first frame to last. Yes, the air-port climax where our heroes make their getaway from a middle-east-ern country seems inspired by Ben Affleck’s Argo. No harm in that...Creativity is never self-generated.
Helming, navigating and con-trolling this bridled exposition on anarchy is Akshay Kumar with his career’s best performance. His inter-pretation of an unsung hero’s stubborn determination to rescue the world from chaos, is mature and restrained, even when pitched against veteran actors with a formidable history of one-upmanship.
Watch out for the solid supporting performances. Each actor, even in the smallest role, knows he is part of a work that attempts to project the grim reality of our violence-ridden world without losing the inherent cinematic quality in the narration. In various sections of the film Danny Denzongpa, Sushant Singh, Tapsee Pannu (as a desi Lara Croft, she is a delight), K K Menon and Anupam Kher appear to excel without trying to.
What could have been avoided is the over-punctuated background score by Sunjoy Choudhary which tries to pound every scene to a pulp. If the narrative escapes from the assault on the soundtrack it’s because the timely plot gives us no room to crib over trespasses.
Pandey gets immense support from his technicians. Sudeep Chatterjee shoots every nook of the locations as though it were the end of the world. There is a throbbing urgency to every sequence. The editing (Sree Narayan Singh) does away with punctuation marks to create a seamless world where danger lurks in every corner and only the brave are allowed to survive.
Baby is a roller-coaster ride . Miss it at your own risk. IANS
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
Anne Hathaway: A beleaguered Oscar winner rebounds as an indie producer
SPACEPLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 201510
Asteroid 2004 BL86, estimated to be half a kilometre wide, will passwithin 1.2 million km of Earth on January 26 /27 – the closest it will getfor the next 200 years and the nearest flyby of a space rock until 2027
WHERE TO SEE ITObservers in Europe,Americas and Africa willneed small telescope orstrong binoculars. Lessvisible in Asia / Pacific
WHERE TO SEE ITObservers in Europe,Americas and Africa willneed small telescope orstrong binoculars. Lessvisible in Asia / Pacific
Jan 26 20h
22h
Path of2004 BL86
Jan 27 0h
2h
4h
6h
8h
CANCER
Head ofHYDRA
BeehiveCluster
M44
10h UT
Artist’s view of asteroidpassing Earth (not 2004 BL86)Artist’s view of asteroidpassing Earth (not 2004 BL86)
0.5km-wideasteroid andEmpire StateBuilding to scale
0.5km-wideasteroid andEmpire StateBuilding to scale
MercuryMercury
CLOSE ENCOUNTER (planets not to scale)CLOSE ENCOUNTER (planets not to scale)
EarthEarthAsteroid2004 BL86Asteroid2004 BL86
EarthorbitEarthorbit
Asteroid orbit(orbital period1.84 years)
Asteroid orbit(orbital period1.84 years)
SunSun
MarsMars
VenusVenus
DISTANCE FROM EARTHDISTANCE FROM EARTH EarthEarth
Size of Earth, Moon and asteroids increased for claritySize of Earth, Moon and asteroids increased for clarity
Asteroid2004 BL86Asteroid2004 BL86
Asteroid1999 AN10
Could pass within37,000km in 2027
Asteroid1999 AN10
Could pass within37,000km in 2027
Moon384,400km(average)
Moon384,400km(average)1.2 million km
on Jan 26 /271.2 million kmon Jan 26 /27 Hu
ge a
ster
oid
to “
narr
owly
” m
iss
Eart
h
HEALTH / FITNESS 11PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
By Kathryn Doyle
In a study of Dutch professional footballers, a bone deformity at the hip was much more common among men who started playing the sport at least four times a week before age twelve.
If the bones of the hip don’t develop normally during childhood, a so-called cam deformity can occur, with extra bone growing near the ball-shaped top of the femur, potentially leading to joint damage and pain, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Cam deformities begin to show up on X-rays in early adolescence, and tend to be more common among males and athletes in high-impact sports, the authors of the new study note in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
“It is in youth, during growth, that bone activity is high and bone is very responsive to loading,” said lead author Igor Tak of the Sports Rehabilitation and Manual Therapy Department at Physiotherapy Utrecht Oost in The Netherlands.
“For girls this is between 10-14 and for boys this on the average 1.5 years later,” Tak said. “This suits our findings that when the thresh-old of loading with a high and low frequency is set at 12 years or 13 years of age, differences are visible between hip morphology of these boys later in life when being an elite player.”
For the new study, Tak and his coauthors studied X-rays of the hips of 63 players from two Dutch foot-ball clubs. The players’ average age was 23.
The researchers also used pre-season player questionnaires, which include questions about their the men’s age when they started play-ing football and the age when they transitioned from playing three or fewer times per week to playing four or more times per week.
On average, the players had started practicing soc-cer at an amateur level around age six, and entered a professional football club, which would require four or more sessions per week, between ages 12 and 13.
The study team found that 40 of the 63 footballers had some type of cam deformity in one or both hips, while 18 had a “pathological deformity” at an angle severe enough to be associated with developing hip osteoarthritis at an older age.
Considering the 63 players’ total of 126 hips
individually, 40 percent of those who had started playing in a professional club after age 12 had a cam deformity, compared to 64 percent of those who started before age 12. There was a similar difference in the number of pathological deformities.
Cam deformities make the “ball” part of the hip’s ball-and-socket less round, which can increase the risk of osteoarthritis later, Tak said. People who play ice hockey, football and basketball often have cam deformities, he said.
Athletes may work their hip joints more and begin to experience hip pain earlier, but exercise does not cause cam deformities, according to the AAOS.
Regular people who do not become elite athletes may experience the same thing if they play high-impact sports frequently during bone development, Tak said. Young people should moderate their high-impact sport participation around the age of the “growth spurt,” and it would be helpful to more exactly define when that is, but more information is needed on this topic, he said.
Almost a third of white males develop a cam deform-ity, and only a small number will develop clinical complaints of restricted range of motion or osteoar-thritis pain, even at an older age, said Dr. Emmanuel
Audenaert, an orthopedic surgeon at Ghent University in Belgium, who was not involved in the new study.
For the hips, growth plates stay open until age 16 to 18, which is rela-tively late, Audenaert said.
“During puberty and as a result of changing testosterone hormone balance, the growth plate weakens around the age of 12-13, making it even more sensitive to displace-ment or deformity,” Audenaert told Reuters Health by email.
“Severe muscular training and high loading activities should be restricted until skeletal maturity for any joint and sport,” he said. “At young age sportsmen should train on
endurance, and maybe most of all technique.”The results would likely be similar for non-elite ath-
letes, but they would not have the same close medical follow-up and their hip problems may not be detected until middle age, he said.
The results of other investigations have been mixed and the new study only looks back at the pasts of cur-rent adult players, said Dr. Kasper Gosvig of Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark, who was not involved in the Dutch report. Another study following kids as they play sports and their cam deformities emerge is needed, he said. Reuters
Researcher prevents Type I diabetes in lab
A researcher from Missouri-based Saint Louis University has found a novel way
to prevent Type I diabetes in an animal model that stops destruction of beta cells and pre-serves insulin production.
Thomas Burris, chair of pharmacologi-cal and physiological science, and his team focused on blocking the autoimmune process that destroys beta cells and leads to diabetes.
“None of the animals on the treatment developed diabetes even when we started treatment after significant beta cell damage had already occurred,” said Burris.
This type of treatment would slow the progression of Type I diabetes in people or potentially even eliminate the need for insulin therapy, he noted. Scientists already know that at least two types of immune “T-cells” con-tribute to the development of Type I diabetes.
However, the role of a third type, TH17, remained unclear. In this study, researchers found that two receptors play critical roles in the development of TH17 cells.
By targeting these receptors, they were able to stop autoimmunity from developing in several mouse models, sparing beta cells.
“The results confirm that TH17 cells likely play a key role in the development of Type I diabetes and suggest that the use of drugs that target this cell type may offer a new treat-ment for the illness,” the authors said.
Current treatments for Type I diabetes focus on controlling blood sugar with insu-lin therapy and must continue throughout a person’s life. The research was published in the journal Endocrinology.
Lonely men run greater risk of premature death
Men who live alone have a considerably greater long-term risk of dying prema-
turely than other patients, finds a study that followed 1,090 stroke cases in western Sweden.
“Among the conceivable causes are that people who live alone lead less healthy lives, are less prone to take their medication and tend to wait longer before going to the emer-gency room,” said Petra Redfors, neurologist and researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.
As part of Sahlgrenska Academy Study on Ischemic Stroke (SAHLSIS), for the healthy controls, excess mortality was also greater among men particularly those living alone, she found. According to her findings, 36 percent of patients who were living alone, as opposed to 17 percent of those with partners, died within 12 years after stroke. Among men, the gap widened to 44 percent versus 14 percent.
Excess mortality associated with living alone was still found after adjusting for physi-cal inactivity, high alcohol consumption, low educational level and other known risk factors.
Her doctoral thesis also found that a large percentage of stroke victims were still experi-encing memory, concentration, cognitive and other loss at seven-year follow-up.
Because many of them are of working age, the personal and social impact is enormous.
“Above all, serious consideration needs to be given to providing greater support and more thorough information for patients who are living alone,” the authors said.
Agencies
Severe muscular training and high loading activities should be restricted until skeletal maturity for any joint and sport. At young age sportsmen should train on endurance, and maybe most of all technique.
Heavy soccer playing Heavy soccer playing before age 12 tied to before age 12 tied to later hip deformitieslater hip deformities
TECHNOLOGYPLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 201512
By Keith Stuart
Five years ago a scintillating rumour crept across gaming news sites and forums — a rumour that satisfied deeply entrenched beliefs held throughout the industry.
The story goes that Microsoft was once consider-ing introducing cross-platform play between PCs and Xbox 360s. It had the technology and the software infrastructure in place, and the idea looked like a nice way to boost the then-fading market for big desktop Windows computers.
But there was a problem. When the very best con-sole gamers were pitted against teams of average PC owners in a series of gameplay tests, the Xbox kids were destroyed. A console controller, to paraphrase Han Solo, was no match for having a good keyboard and mouse combo at your side, kid.
The rumour of this abandoned concept was started by VoodooPC founder Rahul Sood and was repeated throughout the gaming press. It was popular because it confirmed long-held beliefs that console players just couldn’t cut it against PC players.
Ostensibly, this was about the differences in user interfaces: the mouse affords a level of directional freedom and accuracy that even an analogue joypad controller cannot hope to compete with.
Also, if we’re going to look at this in terms of technical specifications, then sure, a high-end or even middling modern PC will out-perform a current-gen console, both in terms of frame rate and graphical fidelity. But that’s not really what it’s about either.
PC and not PC, that is the problemLet’s be honest: PC gamers just sometimes feel,
well, superior to console gamers.There is a sort of belief amid some computer own-
ers (and I can’t stress the word “some” enough) that the PC is for people who are “serious about their hobby” while consoles are for people who like to play Call of Duty in their pants on a Friday night. When PC Gamer recently suggested that its readers should maybe stop self-identifying as “the PC Master Race”, a lot of people were really unhappy.
Whatever the case, the cultures are different. For 20 years, the console industry has been guided by the design maxims of Japanese manufacturers and devel-opers. The likes of Nintendo, Capcom, Namco, Sega, Konami and Squaresoft once dominated the console industry, and built the success of the Mega Drive, SNES and PlayStation machines around arcade-originating fighting games, racers and hack-’em-ups. Even now, those dynamics – built around immedi-ate accessibility, highly choreographed violence and hyper-real visuals – guide console game design to a degree.
In the PC world, however, the culture has largely been defined by Western developers. The long-dom-inant first-person shooter genre has mostly strived for increasing visual realism, rather than the aes-thetic experimentalism of Japanese studios. And the real-time strategy genre has become complex and intimidating to many casual players. Although there are certainly big games that do well on both PC and console, there are often profound and complex dif-ferences between titles build specifically for console, and titles made only on PC. Divided many years ago, they have evolved along different lines, driven by the natural selection of their contrasting market places.
So now, Microsoft has revealed its plans to bring Xbox functionality and compatibility to Windows 10 PCs. Xbox Live will be “seamlessly integrated” into the Xbox Windows 10 app allowing cross-platform social communication – and gaming. The company has also announced that long-awaited role-playing sequel Fable: Legends will be the first title to support true cross-platform play. Furthermore, the Xbox Wire news site confirmed that PC developers can get full access to the Xbox LIve API so they will be able to create their own console-vs-PC titles.
Basically, is this peace in our time?
Cross-platform, cross-cultureIt should be pointed out that there have been
experiments in this direction for a number of years. Veteran US developer Valve implemented cross-platform play into its first-person puzzler Portal 2 – although that was co-op focused. The developer also had the feature working on its famed online shooter Team Fortress 2, but chose not to widely release it. Other titles like the role-playing fantasy Phantasy Star Online and the shooter Shadowrun have implemented cross-platform play too; the latter, released in 2007, did a pretty good job, with developer Fasa Corporation introducing slight handicaps to PC interfaces as well as auto-aiming for Xbox players. Some computer users compained about their controls being “gimped”, but an active community grew up around the game, challenging long-held prejudices.
Of course, for many genres, including racing, third-person action adventures and moba titles like League of Legends, there should be no real interface advan-tage for either side. It comes down to the will of developers to make it happen – and those developers will have different concerns than us gamers.
“The ability to use the Xbox Live API on Windows 10 devices is certainly an exciting prospect and it does open up our games to a lot more possibilities,” says coder Byron Atkinson Jones, who has worked for EA, Sega and Lionhead. “My biggest question is if there is going to be some kind of approval system for cross-platform games like there is for Xbox titles
where you have to go through technical requirement checks – I would imagine there would have to be, just in case there was a way to bring down an Xbox game though dodgy coding on the PC version.
“That adds an extra layer of complexity and it leads into asking whether the testing process is free or not. In other respects the technical difficulties would no different than trying to develop a network game for PCs playing against each other and having different specs. I’d also like to know where the games can be played from: is there going to be some kind of dedicated Windows 10 store or could we make a game that uses the service and can be sold on Steam?”
The age of openDevelopment issues aside, it seems incongruous in
our era of “device agnostic” digital communications, that we can’t just play games with both our console and our PC-owning fiends. The big social media plat-forms have brought in expectations of compatibility and syncopation that make closed infrastructures seem delightfully old-fashioned. At the same time, the cultures are merging; traditional genres are fad-ing, and open-world, super-social, emergent, persist-ent experiences are becoming the norm.
At the same time, it’s interesting that one of the first titles to support the feature – Fable: Legends – features asymmetrical multiplayer. In the game, while four players can join a party to raid dungeons and explore the landscape, another can compete against them as a sort of dungeon keeper, spawning enemies and setting traps. Perhaps in our glorious cross-platform future there could be different roles and experiences that align with the preferences of different sorts of gamers? Or maybe that’s too reductionist?
I don’t know. But what I do know is that while the idea of PC and console owners competing against each other was once seen as ridiculous and imprac-tical, it now feels weird that they’re not. Can’t we all just get along and shoot at each other in peace?
The Guardian
Xbox meets Windows 10: Will this end the PC v console war?
There have been many
attempts to unite console
and PC gamers in cross-
platform play, but this could
be the one that works.
COMICS & MORE 13
Hoy en la HistoriaJanuary 25, 1945
1915: Alexander Graham Bell, in New York, held the first inter-continental telephone conversation with Thomas Watson in San Francisco 1919: A proposal to create the League of Nations was agreed1975: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became president of Bangladesh1990: Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto became the first-ever head of government to give birth while still in office
Grand Rapids, in the U.S. state of Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride, a mineral found in rocks and soil, to its drinking water to reduce tooth decay
Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS
ALL IN THE MIND Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.
ALTO, ANTHEM, ARIA, BALLAD, BAND, BARITONE, BASS, BLUES, CHOIR, CHORISTER, CLASSICAL, COMBO, CONTRALTO, COUNTRY MUSIC, DUET, ETUDE, FOLK SONG, GOSPEL MUSIC, GROUP, OPERA, HIP HOP, HYMN, JAZZ, KARAOKE, LULLABY, MADRIGAL, MUSICAL, NEW WAVE, POP SONG, PSALM, RAPPER, REFRAIN, RHAPSODY, ROCK, SERENADE, SONATA, SOPRANO, SWING, SYMPHONY, TENOR.
Baby Blues by Jerry Scott & Rick Kirkman
Zits by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman
Hagar The Horrible by Chris Browne
LEARN ARABIC
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
At Home
Ventilator Mirwa�a
Flat-iron Makwa kahrabayia
Electric razor Makanat �ilaqa kahrabayia
Sewing machine Makanat �iya�a
Television Tilfizyon
Radio Radio
Door Bab
Window Šoubbak
Closet �izana
Refrigerator Barrad
Bed Sareer
Carpet Sa��ada
Chair Koursiy
Note: ç = ‘a’ in ‘agh’ when surprised
HYPER SUDOKU
CROSSWORD
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 Presenter of “The
Borgias,” in brief 4 Burning10 Arizona’s ___ Canyon
Dam14 Owner of Moviefone15 Jackie who played
Uncle Fester16 Italian beach resort17 The “American Moses”19 Hot spot in “Hansel and
Gretel”20 Four stars, say21 Critical elements22 “Attendance is
mandatory”23 Brewed refresher26 TV great who said “I live to
laugh, and I laugh to live”27 Modern beginning?28 Use (up)29 Wasn’t faithful31 Parenthetical remarks33 1990s politico from Texas34 1860s novel that is the
basis for this puzzle’s theme
37 Flightless birds38 Electrify41 Huck and Jim on the
Mississippi, e.g.44 Its Word of the Year in
2005 was “sudoku”; in 2013, “selfie”: Abbr.45 63-Across, in France46 Fixes47 Waived the wake-up
call49 Mission ___, Calif.50 Leave blank53 Shark eater54 You’re not going
anywhere if you’re in this
55 Baby boomers, with “the”58 Canal with 36 locks59 Brightest star in Aquila60 Reactor safety agcy.61 Colors62 College named for a
Norwegian king63 45-Across, in America
DOWN 1 Audrey Hepburn title
role 2 “___ Odes” (classic
work of poetry) 3 Staple of Mediterranean
cooking 4 Münster “Geez!” 5 Like a freshly drawn
draft 6 View 7 Malaria symptom 8 Lots 9 Lots of R.P.I. grads:
Abbr.10 Shakespeare play
setting11 Car service12 Gertrude who swam the
English Channel13 “You’ve done enough”18 H.S. proficiency test24 Goes through a stage of
babyhood25 Spring time26 Trite comment29 Wrap (up)30 Tiler’s tool
32 Ribald humor33 Foot: Lat.35 ___ Américas36 Subatomic particle with
no electric charge39 Creature in Rowling’s
Forbidden Forest40 Price for forgiveness,
perhaps41 Answered, quickly42 Place abuzz with activity?
43 Spenser’s “The ___ Queene”
44 Pertaining to bone48 Big belly50 Some Swiss watches51 Tuna-and-cheese
sandwich52 Digging56 Narrow inlet57 Whelp’s yelp
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
T H E E I C B M J A C K OS A W S R O O M O R G A NK E E P H O U S E T R I T ES C R A B B L E A T A
R O O D C H O I C E SR O T T A B O O G A L A
R E M O P E R R A N T L YU S E H A N G M A N D E OS T A N D P A T S P O R KE U R O P R O B E A M YS P A N G L Y A N A T
S H Y A N A G R A M SA P O L O S H A M E O N M EV A D I S R E N O N E V AA D E P T O M A R S W I M
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 SUDOKUCartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate
Easy 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.
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
1American Sniper (2D/Action)
– 11:00am, 1:30, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm &12:00midnight
2Taken 3 (2D/Action)
– 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20, 4:30, 6:40, 9:00 & 11:20pm
3Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 10:15am, 12:30, 2:45,
5:00, 7:20, 9:40 & 11:50pm
4Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation)
– 10:00am, 11:40, 1:15, 2:45 & 4:15pm;13 Sins (2D/Horror) – 9:20 & 11:20pm
Unbroken (2D/Drama) – 6:45pm
5The Book of Life (2D/Animation)
– 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pmThe Theory of Everything (2D/Drama)
– 8:30 & 11:15pm
6Reach Me (2D/Action)
– 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pmWolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror)
– 12:00noon, 4:00, 7:50pm & 12:00midnight
7The Imitation Game (2D/Drama)
– 12:30, 4:40, 9:05 & 11:30pmPaddington(2D/Family)–10:40am, 2:45 &7:05pm
813 Sins (2D/Horror)– 10:30am, 2:15 & 6:00pm
Rec 3: Genesis (2D/Horror) – 12:30, 4:15, 8:00, 9:45 & 11:20pm
9Taken 3 (IMAX 2D/Action)
– 10:30am, 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:50pm
10Taken 3 (2D/Action)
– 11:00am, 3:20, 7:45 & 10:00pmMortdecai (2D/Action)
– 1:10, 5:30pm & 12:15am
MALL
1Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation)
– 2:30 & 4:00pm
Taken 3 (2D/Crime) – 5:30pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7.30pm
Rec 3 (2D/Horror) – 10:00pm
Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 11:30pm
2 The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 2:30pm
We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 4:15pm
Baby (2D/Hindi) – 6:00 & 10:30pm
Reach Me (2D/Drama) – 8:45pm
3 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm
The Book Of Life (3D/Animation) – 5:15pm
Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 7:00pm
Taken 3 (2D/Crime) – 9:00pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 11.00pm
LANDMARK
1 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm
The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 5:15pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7.00 & 11:00pm
Rec 3 (2D/Horror) – 9:30pm
2Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation)
– 2:30 & 4:00pm
Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 5:30 & 11:30pm
Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 7:30pm
Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 9:30pm
3 The Book Of Life (3D/Animation) – 2:15pm
Baby (2D/Hindi) – 4:00pm
We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 6:45pm
Reach Me (2D/Drama) – 8:30pm
Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 10:15pm
ROYAL
PLAZA
1
The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 2:30 & 5:30pm
Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation) – 4:00pm
Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 7:15pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 9:15pm
Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 11:30pm
2
Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 3:00pm
Dolly Ki Doli (2D/Hindi) – 5.00 & 9:30pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7:00pm
Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 11:30pm
3Legend Of The Never Beast (2D/Drama)
– 2:30pm
We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 4:00pm
Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 5:45pm
Rec 3 (2D/Horror) – 7:45pm
Reach Me (2D/Drama) – 9:15pm
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 11:15pm
CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15
TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER
15:00 Omni Sport
15:30 Gp Racing
16:00 Rugby
European Cup
Bath V Glasgow
18:00 Best Prem Tries
Dec
18:15 Rugby
European Cup
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12:40 How It's Made
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18:30 What's In The
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PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015
PLUS | SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2015 POTPOURRI16
Acting Editor-In-Chief Dr Khalid Al-Jaber Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
IN FOCUS
A view from Al Hassad farm.
by Syed Omar
Send your photos to [email protected]. Mention where the photo was taken.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, Joseph Sledge woke up
behind bars with a chance of becom-ing a free man. The 70-year-old man needed one more win at an innocence hearing. As three judges listened to closing statements about how Sledge was wrongfully convicted in the 1976 stabbing deaths of a mother and her adult daughter, he wrote down a few words on a yellow Post-it note — “clo-sure,” ‘’please” and “exonerated.”
A few hours later, carrying his belongings in plastic bags, Sledge emerged from a North Carolina jail, saying he was looking forward to what most people consider the most mundane of activities: “Going home. Relaxing. Sleeping in a real bed. Probably get in a pool of water and swim for a little while.”
A special three-judge panel unani-mously voted Sledge had proven he was innocent of the killings and ordered his release. But his freedom almost didn’t happen because evi-dence had been lost for years.
His attorney, Christine Mumma, took the case in 2004 and felt like she had been running out of options and considered closing the case in 2012. Then court clerks discovered a misplaced envelope of evidence while cleaning out a high shelf of a vault.
The envelope contained hair, found
on the victim and believed to be the attacker’s, that turned out to be a key piece of evidence needed to do DNA testing, which wasn’t available when Sledge went on trial 1978.
“I understand those shelves were very high, but there was a ladder in that room,” said Mumma, a lawyer for the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence.
In 2013, the case was referred to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, the only state-run inves-tigative agency of its kind. So far, Sledge is the eighth person exoner-ated after an investigation by the commission, which started operating in 2007. It has reviewed and closed about 1,500 cases.
Nationwide, The Innocence Project said there have been 325 post-convic-tion DNA exonerations.
The North Carolina commission found there was enough evidence of Sledge’s innocence to refer it to a panel
of three judges, who were appointed by the state Supreme Court.
The judges considered the commis-sion’s investigative file, and a DNA expert highlighted lab tests in her tes-timony. Meghan Clement of Cellmark Forensics said none of the evidence collected from the scene — hair, DNA and fingerprints — belonged to Sledge.
The key jailhouse informant, Herman Baker, signed an affidavit in 2013 recanting trial testimony. Baker said he lied at the 1978 trial after being promised leniency in his own drug case and he said he’d been coached by authorities on what to say.
The victims, 74-year-old Josephine Davis and her 57-year-old daugh-ter, Aileen, were stabbed to death in September 1976. Aileen was also sexu-ally assaulted.
They were found in their home in Elizabethtown, a day after Sledge had escaped from a prison work farm where he was serving a four-year sen-tence for larceny.
Sledge was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and sen-tenced to life in prison.
After his release, Sledge was headed to Savannah, Georgia, to live with family. He told reporters he never doubted he’d be freed someday despite spending more than half his life in prison. AP
If you want your events featured here, mail details to [email protected]
Events in Qatar
Family Art Workshops When: Till March 31, 2015 Where: Katara Art Studios - Bldg 19What: Katara Art Studios is hosting a series of Diverse Family Art Workshops from September 2014 to March 2015. They invite families to attend with their children aged between 5 years old to 10 years old.The cost of each workshop is QR150
Shirin Neshat: Afterwards When: Till February 15, 2015 Where: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art What: The first solo exhibition in the Middle East by internationally acclaimed artist Shirin Neshat. Occupying the entire ground floor galleries, the exhibition features existing and newly produced works. Free admission
Rock Paper ScissorsWhen: Till February 15, 2015Where: HBKU Student Center Art Gallery What: Kelley Lowe, Fleming Jeffries, Sophiya Khwaja: a collaboration between three artists exploring their material and immaterial worlds through hand-work. Raw materials range from the industrial and discarded to the natural and domestic. Themes of scavenging, mapping, and deciphering coincide with the joy of making in a diverse show of hybrid installations and works on paper.Free entry
Yousef Ahmad: Story of ingenuity When: Nov 11- Feb14; 10am-8pmWhere: Qatar Museums Gallery, Building 10, Katara What: As a pioneer of Qatar’s modern art movement, Yousef Ahmad’s artistic journey has spanned over three decades, and his work has been influenced by his surroundings and emotional ties with Qatar’s culture and traditions. It showcases three phases in his career, from the early oil paintings that include the depiction of Al Zubarah Fort, to mixed media calligraphic pieces to new conceptual artworks.Free Entry
Mal Lawal BiennaleWhen: Till February 28Where: Doha Exhibition Center What: Spread over 5,000sqm space, the expo is divided into 11 categories and offers a feast to the eyes and intellect of visitors with a diverse array of objects.There has been a rise in the number of participants from 90 in the first edition to 152 this year, 110 of whom are from Qatar and 42 from other GCC countries.Free entry
After 37 years in prison, innocent North Carolina
man freed