Failure is success - Gulf Times

CommunityQatar University Foundation Programme holds

an awards ceremony for the winners and participants of the second FP TED Talks competition.

P6 P16 CommunityThe sixth edition of The Color

Run is set to be held on January 25 at Qatar National Convention Centre.

Failure is

success

COVERSTORY

There is no better time to be

a failure. It is now

big business for the highly

successful. P4-5

Thursday, January 9, 2020Jumada I 14, 1441 AH

Doha today: 180 - 240

REVIEWS SHOWBIZ

Jordon, Foxx fi ght for justice

in true-life Death Row drama.

Page 14

Bhumi: Will showcase varied

shades of being a woman in 2020.

Page 15

Thursday, January 9, 20202 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITY ROUND & ABOUT

Community EditorKamran Rehmat

e-mail: [email protected]: 44466405

Fax: 44350474

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Humanitarian Services Offi ce (Single window facility for the repatriation of bodies)Ministry of Interior 40253371, 40253372, 40253369Ministry of Health 40253370, 40253364Hamad Medical Corporation 40253368, 40253365Qatar Airways 40253374

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PRAYER TIMEFajr 4.59amShorooq (sunrise) 6.23amZuhr (noon) 11.42amAsr (afternoon) 2.42pmMaghreb (sunset) 5.02pmIsha (night) 6.32pm

“Very little is needed to

make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of

thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius

ChhapaakDIRECTION: Meghna GulzarCAST: Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey, Madhurjeet

Sarghi SYNOPSIS: The trials and triumphs of Malti, an acid

attack survivor. From the investigation of the attack to the court proceedings, the medical treatment to the emotional healing.

THEATRES: Royal Plaza, Landmark, The Mall

Daughter of the wolfDIRECTION: David HacklCAST: Gina Carano, Brendan Fehr, Richard DreyfussSYNOPSIS: An ex-military specialist comes home when

her father passes away. But after getting news that she has

inherited a large sum of money, her son is kidnapped. Instead of seeking help, she captures one of the kidnappers, using him to track down her son.

THEATRE: Landmark

For movie timings and further details please scan

the QR code above with your mobile phone camera or visit qatarcinemas.com

3Thursday, January 9, 2020 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYROUND & ABOUT

The Colour Run 2020WHERE: QNCCWHEN: January 25TIME: 7am – 10pmYour Health First is a fi ve-kilometre,

untimed event. At each kilometre mark, Colour Runners are doused from head to toe in a diff erent coloured powder. Participants wear white at the starting line and fi nish the race plastered in colour. Once the 5k is over, the fun continues at the Finish Festival, a larger-than-life party equipped with music, dancing, photo ops, activity booths, vendors, and more massive colour throws, which create millions of vivid colour combinations.

Gems and Jewels Exhibition WHERE: Museum of Islamic ArtWHEN: Ongoing till January 18TIME: 9am onwards The exhibition comes in celebration of

the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture and presents a look at magnifi cent gems and jewellery from India. Set in Stone: Gems and Jewels from Royal Indian Courts showcases more than 100 pieces from across Qatar Museums’ (QM) collections, including many masterpieces that have never been displayed before.

Winter Dragon Boat Festival 2020WHERE: Museum of Islamic Art WHEN: January 24Row, paddle, hurry up! Qatar’s largest

water sports, Winter Dragon Boat Festival is back to show us their fast rowing skills. Dragon boating is a canoe-sport and was originally a traditional festival game dating back 2,000 years throughout Southern China. It has now become a popular sport with competitions held around the world.

Metro Street FoodWHERE: DECC Metro StationWHEN: OngoingTIME: 12:30pm Street Food is the ideal venue for a leisure

experience for the whole family off ering over 20 dine-in options and 18-hole World Mini-Golf setup.

Public Speaking Classes for AdultsWHERE: Sharq Capital, C-Ring Road

WHEN: January 15 – July 1TIME: 6:30pm – 9pmGet trained by experts to be a good speaker.

Smedley Toastmasters is conducting a six-month speech-craft programme that teaches new members to speak confi dently and develop leadership skills. For more information, 66053485, 33232490 or visit www.SmedleyToastmasters.org

After School ActivitiesWHERE: AtelierWHEN: OngoingMusic and arts activities for students

taking place after they fi nish their day in

school includes Group Music lessons, Hip-hop, Ballet, Drawing and Painting, Drama Theatre & Taekwondo. Ages between 5 and 10 years old after school hours.

Shop Qatar 2020WHERE: Malls in Qatar WHEN: Ongoing till January 31TIME: Entire dayShop Qatar has something for everyone,

including beauty masterclasses, fashion shows, shopping off ers, mall activities and shows, raffl e draws, and Chinese New Year celebrations.

Sonu Nigam Live in QatarWHERE: Asian Town AmphitheatreWHEN: January 23TIME: 7:30pm onwardsBack by popular demand, Sonu Nigam, returns to wow his fans once again in a one-night only

concert. Presented by Q-Tickets the event is part of Shop Qatar Festival and under the aegis of Qatar National Tourism Council. Sonu Nigam has sung over 10,000 songs in diff erent languages and has received over 40 mainstream awards.

Compiled by Nausheen Shaikh. E-mail: [email protected], Events and timings subject to change


COMMUNITY COVER STORY

There is no better time to be a failure. Or, to put it another way, now would seem like a good moment to turn failure into success. The relentless focus

on exams at school means most of us are reared to view failure as undesirable, a consequence of not knuckling down and doing your homework. But in the adult world failure is increasingly fetishised and monetised. Setbacks, both major and minor, are evidence of our struggle. We are all the better for having messed up.

This, at least, is the message in the mountain of literature on the topic, which ranges from the advisory to the autobiographical. Self-help books such as The Value of Failure, In Praise of Failure and How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big tell us that failure is character-building, a vital learning tool, and that success comes from hard-won lessons.

Motivational Ted Talks and podcasts are full of this stuff , many of them confessionals by life coaches or

Successful failures

It’s interesting that we hear less from the longstanding failures: the poets who never got published; the inventors who never got an idea off the ground; the mountaineers who gave up and went home

— Fiona Sturges, arts writer ’

In bestselling books, Ted Talks and podcasts, the famous love to tell us how they failed

— and it seems we love to listen, writes Fiona Sturges

‘


COMMUNITYCOVER STORY

entrepreneurs spewing platitudes about personal journeys, empowerment and positive thinking. Famous types also love talking about their failures. In her Ted Talk the US novelist Elizabeth Gilbert, she of the best-selling Eat, Pray, Love, reminisces on her struggle as an unpublished author working as a waitress in a diner. In Elizabeth Day’s (paradoxically successful) podcast, How to Fail, Lily Allen, Fearne Cotton and Phoebe Waller-Bridge are among those refl ecting on their setbacks. Sharing one’s low moments is all very laudable, though such stories are invariably told in the past tense. Because while some struggles may be ongoing, the popular narrative requires the protagonist to have triumphed. And, however genuine the tale, it’s hard to be a wealthy celebrity discussing defeat without sounding like a bit of an lowlife.

Public failure can be chastening, humiliating even. It can also reveal a lot about those who have failed. When Jamie Oliver’s business went down the tubes, shame and regret seemed to leak from his every pore, though whether this can be deemed a “good” failure when so many lost their jobs is something else entirely.

There is, of course, value in talking honestly about failure. The appearance of perfection is helpful to no-one, while the removal of shame around life’s more calamitous moments can only be a good thing. But failure means diff erent things to diff erent people, and our understanding of it is tethered to our defi nition of success. I think I’ve done all right professionally until I look at some of my university pals who earn three times as much as I do, prompting me to wonder about my choices. I could make a long list of all the things I haven’t done that I wish I had — I’ve yet to conquer my fear of driving; my bestselling book remains stubbornly unwritten; I still don’t know how to reset my boiler. But these aren’t failures so much as plans not followed through.

Real failure? I fl unked my maths GCSE twice, which at the time seemed like the end of the world (it wasn’t). For two years, I failed to get pregnant, which brought heartache, frustration and moments of real despair. But a round of IVF resulted in pregnancy and a baby, and so failure was turned into success. Go me! Time for my Ted motivational Talk! Except that an inability to conceive didn’t, to my mind, make me a failure any more than having eggs fertilised outside of my body made me a success (though the embryologist clearly deserves a knighthood). There are complex medical reasons why I couldn’t conceive. To reduce such moments to success or failure is unhelpful at a time when you are raw and vulnerable. If there is one thing that should be understood about real failure, it is that it is often due to circumstances beyond our control.

Still, the growing industry around failure suggests that we derive pleasure from the stories of other people’s screw-ups. Is

it that we enjoy watching people fail? Perhaps, though more likely there’s a touch of “there but for the grace of God” in there too. We are all, really, a whisker away from catastrophe. Perhaps that is why we like stories of losers coming out on top. The US inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison was told he was stupid by his teachers, and is said to have made more than a thousand attempts to invent the light bulb, but he got there in the end. Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein allegedly didn’t speak until he was four years old and was a dead loss at school, but he did all right later too. Such stories are seen as human and endearing, and allow us to imagine that genius resides in us all, if only we could locate it.

Cinema is fascinated with failure — Ed Wood, Inside Llewyn Davis, Sideways and Birdman all provided portraits of lives thwarted or unfulfi lled. The documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil told a touching tale of a Canadian rock band that failed to capitalise on early promise and spent years being ignored. The fi lm depicts a disastrous tour in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong. They are skint, and no-one comes to their gigs, yet on they plod making albums on the cheap in the hope that one day success will be theirs. Television also loves a loser, chief among them Reggie Perrin, David Brent and Alan Partridge.

Optimism and hubris have sustained the Channel 4 series Grand Designs, but the recently

broadcast saga of a record company executive and his dream of a lighthouse on a North Devon cliff edge made for particularly fi st-chewing viewing. Three million quid and eight years later, and the unfi nished building stands as a monument to one man’s massive failure of judgment. The locals remain livid. It’s worth noting, too, that the presenter Kevin McCloud, who habitually (and often smugly) predicts calamity for other people’s projects, isn’t immune to failure, having watched a portion of his own property empire go into liquidation last year.

Life is messy, and for most of us, major cock-ups don’t pan out like a fi lm script. Grit and determination only get you so far in life, and not all obstacles are there to be bravely overcome. It’s interesting that we hear less from the longstanding failures: the poets who never got published; the inventors who never got an idea off the ground; the mountaineers who gave up and went home.

Bona fi de failure can be life-altering and heart-breaking, but it can also be met with a shrug and a rethink of one’s goals. Either way, to look at failure purely as a precursor to success means that it isn’t truly being embraced. Those motivational speakers who talk loudly about failure may well have had their problems. But the triumph over adversity narrative is, by and large, a privilege belonging to those with a safety net. And having one of those surely makes you a winner. — The Guardian

“Those motivational speakers who talk loudly about failure may well have had their problems. But the triumph over adversity narrative is, by and large, a privilege belonging to those with a safety net. And having one of those surely makes you a winner” — Fiona Sturges

MAKING HAY: Elizabeth Gilbert of the Eat, Pray, Love fame is a prime example of someone making good on a bad situation.


COMMUNITY

QU awards winners of the second Foundation Programme TED Talks competition

Qatar University (QU) Foundation Programme (FP), under the Deanship of General Studies, recently held an awards ceremony for the winners and participants of the second FP TED Talks competition for Fall 2019.In an eff ort to continuously enhance student’s English language and presentation skills, the FP Students Support Committee (FPSSC) organised the event under the theme of ‘Aspiring to Excellence,’ in order to build students’ confidence in public speaking. A total of 19 female and male students participated in the contest and five winners were selected by judges consisting of FP faculty members, which was followed by s workshop to define the concept of TED Talks, prepared and delivered by David Pearson, FP English Lecturer. The workshop highlighted the diff erent methods in giving a TED Talk and demonstrated to students for what is expected of them. Dr Hezam al-Awah, FP Director, awarded the winners and said, “The FP organises these kind of events for FP students, to practice English language skills and to harness the benefits of public speaking, which enhance student self-esteem and confidence. We are committed to helping students throughout their academic journey in QU. We will carry

on supporting them to discover their potential and motivate them to aspire to excellence, to achieve a fruitful university experience.”Hayat El Samad, Assistant Director for Student Aff airs of FP and Chair of FPSSC, said, “The FP continues to provide students with opportunities to develop various skills and provide a rich university experience where they can grow by challenging themselves.”Shamsa al-Rushaidi, FP English Lecturer and FPSSC Co-Chair, added, “This initiative was established in Spring 2018 and aims to provide an opportunity for students to invest their academic English skills in a very productive and enjoyable way.”Shaikha al-Muhannadi, winner of the competition, said, “I would be more than happy to express my ultimate gratitude to the FP for launching TED Talks, the most prestigious and inspirational presentation worldwide. I was overwhelmed at first when I was instructed to give a speech in the competition described as inspirational and encouraging. However, the competition helped me harness my abilities. Likewise, the workshop was a great benefit and the contest is rewarding for us as university students who are interested in such competitions to keep us connected and spread our ideas.”

Pak Bazm-e-Ahbab appoints new off ice bearersPak Bazm-e-Ahbab, a socio cultural organisation of Pakistanis working in diff erent companies of MIC (Messaieed Industrial City) recently appointed its new off ice bearers for. The new off ice bearers, include Muhammad Abdul Qudus, Chairman; Sekander e Azam Ghori, Vice chairman; Farooq Ahmad, President; Javed Iqbal Bhatti, Vice President; Furqan Ahmad Paracha, General Secretary; Muhammad Zahid Sharif, Joint Secretary; Romaiz Taskeen Qureshi, Media and

Information Secretary; Muhammad Ishaq and Ajmal Hussain, Finance Secretary; Tariq Yasin, Cultural Secretary; and Syed Wasiem Shah, Program Co-ordinator.Pak Bazm-e-Ahbab has been organising diff erent events for students and families including quiz and debates competition, events at Qatar National Day and Pakistan Day and family get-togethers.

Muhammad Zahid Sharif

Muhammad Abdul Qudus

Furqan Ahmad Paracha

Farooq Ahmad Syed Wasiem Shah Romaiz Taskeen Qureshi

Javed Iqbal Bhatti Sekander e Azam Ghori

Muhammad Ishaq

New title from HBKU Press off ers fresh thinking on healthier eating and lifestyles

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) recently launched a book A Beautiful Balance: A Wellness Guide to Healthy Eating and Feeling Great by Zoë Palmer-Wright, world-renowned clinical nutritionist and naturopath. The book maintains a simple but reassuring message that making positive lifestyle changes do not have to be arduous. Full of delicious and nourishing recipes, including healthier twists on traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, A Beautiful Balance: A Wellness Guide to Healthy Eating and Feeling Great provides readers with the necessary tools to control sugar cravings and look and feel their best. Based on her 10 years working as a clinician, researcher and educator, the Bali-based nutritional expert has also developed a holistic approach to creating healthier lifestyles. This focuses on an easy-to-adopt set of nutritional guidelines as well as a novel framework for encouraging better health.

Otherwise known as the ‘Six Pillars of Wellness’, this framework eff ectively takes readers on a journey towards healthier and more sustainable lifestyle choices. By traversing each pillar at their own pace, readers will eventually feel more satisfied, energised, lighter and happier. Zoë Palmer-Wright will be among several authors to appear at the HBKU Press booth at Doha International Book Fair 2020. Besides signing copies of A Beautiful Balance: A Wellness Guide to Healthy Eating and Feeling Great, she will off er personal insights into the development of the book and tips on ensuring healthy lifestyle changes remain in place for the duration. Her visit to Qatar will include a trip to Torba Farmers Market on January 18 between 10am and 5pm and engagements at Qatar Academy schools. A Beautiful Balance: A Wellness Guide to Healthy Eating and Feeling Great will be launched at the Doha International Book Fair 2020 in both Arabic and English.


COMMUNITYOFFBEAT

So, you want a tidy house, but feel too busy? Even the smallest pocket of time can be made to count in the battle for

a calm living space. We spoke to two cleaning and decluttering experts about how you can make spare moments count – and how to maximise longer chunks of time to create the serene home of your dreams.

Three minutesIf you have kids, put on a song

and get them to pick up and put away as many toys as they can before it fi nishes. At my daughter’s nursery, they use the Mission Impossible theme tune – anything that makes them get up and go will work. Make it a game to see who can do the most before it fi nishes.

Five minutesTackle the junk drawer. Clear

out all the old batteries, forgotten keys, matches, old takeaway menus and anything else that is taking up space. Even if you don’t fully organise it, just getting rid of stuff you don’t want is a good start.

Ten minutesTackle any marks on the walls

with a magic eraser; these are readily available on the high street and can remedy scuff marks on painted surfaces, marks from contact with bags and shoes, and fi ngerprint marks around light switches. It is a quick job, but it makes such a diff erence.

If you have only 10 minutes before visitors arrive, I would give the bathroom a quick once-over. Make sure the toilet is clean, polish the tap and put out clean towels.

Half an hourSort out a kitchen cupboard.

Remove everything and discard food that has gone off or that you are not going to use. Clean it thoroughly – shelves, handles and all – before placing like-for-like items back into the cupboard. (You may be surprised by how many similar items you have.) You could also put storage baskets or boxes in there to group items for easy access.

An hourIf you haven’t done it for a while,

an hour should be enough time to clean your oven. Take everything out and start with the racks, which can be cleaned using a sheet of sandpaper.

Next, turn the oven on for 10 to 15 minutes, until it is warm, then wet the bottom with bio washing powder.

Leave this for 10 minutes, then don your rubber gloves and scrub and scrape everything away, before giving

it all a good wipe down. The sides of the oven don’t need doing, but remember to wipe down the front.

Eight hoursIf you have a full day, you have

enough time to take on your clutter by category. Gather all the items in each category (books, clothes etc) in one place; you may think this will take longer than doing it room by room, but the end result is that the whole house is fully functioning and decluttered. It will also stop you repeating yourself and organising similar items in different areas – you will know exactly what is where. Set up a decluttering schedule with end goals for each area. Choose a large, flat area to work on, such as a clean floor, and have bin bags, boxes and recycling bags ready to sort what can go to charity or be discarded. Keep sticky notes and pens at the ready for labelling.

Have water or a hot drink at hand to keep yourself hydrated, as well as a playlist of motivational songs to keep you going. You want to keep up the momentum for as long as possible, so take as few breaks as possible. You can do this! – The Guardian

Time to tidy up: What to clean if you have a spare minute or two

Even the smallest pocket of time can be made to count in the fight against

clutter, as the cleaning experts Rachel Burditt and Aggie MacKenzie explain

SETTING SCHEDULE: Set up a decluttering schedule with end goals for each area.

PRO TIP: Tackle any marks on the walls with a magic eraser; these are readily available on the high street and can remedy scuff marks on painted surfaces, marks from contact with bags and shoes, and fingerprint marks around light switches.

KITCHEN HYGIENE: If you haven’t done it for a while, an hour should be enough time to clean your oven. Take everything out and start with the racks, which can be cleaned using a sheet of sandpaper.


COMMUNITY BOOK REVIEWS

How do you single out fi ve books, out of all the hundreds coming out in 2020, for special attention?

With great trepidation! Here are fi ve very diff erent books, all highly anticipated, making their way to our shelves this year. Here’s hoping it’s full of good reading.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories by Zora Neale Hurston:

The author of Their Eyes Were Watching God – a book that mesmerised me when I fi rst read it, many years ago – died in 1960, and some of her work seemed to have died with her. Now, eight of her ‘lost’ stories, dating from her years at Barnard College during the Harlem Renaissance, fi nally fi nd their way into the light, along with other short works by Hurston combined in book form for the fi rst time.

Genevieve West, a professor and Hurston scholar from Texas Woman’s University, edited the stories and wrote the introduction; Tayari Jones, whose novel An American Marriage won the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year, contributed a foreword.

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defi ance During the Blitz by Erik Larson:

If you’re a World War II/Winston Churchill buff – or maybe if The Crown turned you into one – this book should be just up your alley. Larson, who has a knack for making history come alive will focus on Churchill’s fi rst year as prime minister. Beginning in May 1940, and how the newly elected leader taught the British people ‘the art of being fearless’. I have an early copy of this book on my desk and idly began reading the fi rst pages – and suddenly time disappeared.

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel:

With this book, British author Mantel brings to a close her acclaimed historical-fiction trilogy, which began with 2009’s Wolf Hall (winner of the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction) and continued with 2012’s Bring Up the Bodies (winner of the Man Booker Prize). The new book follows the final years of Thomas Cromwell, after the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536.

Antkind by Charlie Kaufman: In the category of Highly

Anticipated Debut Novels comes this one, from a familiar name – Kaufman is the wonderfully trippy screenwriter behind such gems as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich. The novel centres on a ‘neurotic and underappreciated film critic’ named B. Rosenberger

Rosenberg, who has stumbled upon an unseen masterpiece – a three-month-long film that took its director 90 years to make. Expect this novel to be bizarre, in (let us hope) a good way.

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante:

The pseudonymous author of the beloved Neapolitan Quartet – four internationally bestselling novels, beginning with My Brilliant Friend, which follow the lifelong friendship of two Naples women – returns with a new novel, also set in Naples and featuring a young woman at its centre.

Italians lined up at midnight to buy copies of this novel and organised reading vigils when it was published there in November; we’ll have to wait a few more months for the English translation.

– The Seattle Times/TNS

The highly anticipated books of 2020Moira Macdonald lists down five very diff erent books, all

highly anticipated, making their way to our shelves this year

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9GULF TIMESThursday, January 9, 2020

COMMUNITY


COMMUNITY INFOGRAPHIC


COMMUNITYLIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE

ARIESMarch 21 — April 19

CANCERJune 21 — July 22

LIBRASeptember 23 — October 22

CAPRICORNDecember 22 — January 19

TAURUSApril 20 — May 20

LEOJuly 23 — August 22

SCORPIOOctober 23 — November 21

AQUARIUSJanuary 20 — February 18

GEMINIMay 21 — June 20

VIRGOAugust 23 — September 22

SAGITTARIUSNovember 22 — December 21

PISCESFebruary 19 — March 20

How annoying when work gets in the way of pleasure, but there

are times when professional opportunities are simply too good

to pass up. That beguiling creature you’ve had your eye on will

just have to wait for you another day. For now, Aries, focus on the

business at hand. With the current aspect at play, the payoff could be

tremendous!

Why does being patient have to take so long? quipped one

frustrated soul. Could it have been you, Cancer? Waiting has never

been your strong suit, there’s no question about it. You will get

through today more easily if you concentrate on finding an outlet for

your pent-up frustration. A visit to the gym or a vigorous cleaning of

the house would help.

It’s time once and for all to tie up all those loose ends of projects

left undone. Much as you may dread it, think of it this way, Libra: by

completing these tasks you clear space for exciting new projects to

come your way. Know that everything bodes well today for all things

financial and professional. Perhaps you’ll get that bonus that’s due

you!

Think of yourself as a marathon runner. You have a very long

distance to travel, but the sweetness is not just to be found in

crossing the finish line, but rather in relishing all the sights along the

way. While your head today is overflowing with plans and ideas, you

begin to feel deflated when you begin to consider all the logistics of

realising these dreams. Fret not, Capricorn.

One disadvantage of attics is that so much junk tends to get stored up

there. Today is the day for you to clean house. You’ve been putting this

off long enough and now must face the dust and debris in your own

personal attic. Whether it’s emotional messes that need cleaning up or

business matters that beg for attention, know that you will be hurting

yourself and your future prospects if you delay any longer.

We all know the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

But you can’t help feeling that you have tried and tried and tried

to no avail. All that is about to change, Leo, as you begin to reap

the fruits of your labours. You can expect to see things from a new,

unusual perspective. This will allow you to sidestep the obstacles

that have been blocking you recently.

Junk mail and a few telephone solicitations would almost be a

welcome relief from the intense communications you’ve been

having with people lately. All this intensity is interesting, to be sure,

but also more time consuming than you’d like. You barely have time

to handle your own aff airs, much less those of others. If you begin to

feel yourself at the bursting point, call your own personal time-out.

It’s time for you to tap in to that inner resource that you have always

known existed. Your ability to heal is extraordinary, and there’s no point

in denying it any longer. Your mind is like a sponge, thirsty to soak up

any new knowledge or practice about the healing arts. You might spend

today browsing a New Age bookstore. Or why not spend a relaxing

hour lying flat out on a table.

It seems your ship is about to come in, Gemini. At least, the planets

seem to think so. Your years of cultivating business relationships will

pay off in the form of increased sales or new business opportunities.

It seems this success spills over into your personal life as well. Life on

the home front has never been more serene. You are the conductor

of this melodious symphony that is your life. Congratulations!

Whatever you want, Virgo, you need only ask for it and there is a good

chance you will get it. And it’s about time, too. It seems you have been

working exceptionally hard lately. You are certainly due for a raise, if not

a promotion. Gather your thoughts, collect your supporting evidence,

and ask for what you deserve.

It isn’t nearly as bad as you think, Sagittarius. In fact, things are

definitely looking up. Of course, you’ll never know that if you refuse

to drag yourself out of bed to see for yourself. Your hard work of the

last few months has left you enervated and somewhat drained. But

today you begin to see the payoff ! It’s time to get up, get dressed,

and dazzle the world with your brilliance. You know you can do it.

Once begun is half done, as the saying goes. This certainly applies to

you today, Pisces. Yes, it’s true that you have a considerable amount of

work ahead of you, but surely you know that you can get it done. Trite

as it may sound, making a list (no, you don’t have to check it twice) will

help you break the projects down into manageable chunks.

Music evokes emotions in peopleM

usic really is a universal language and evokes 13 overarching feelings in people, say

researchers who have mapped a largest array of emotions that are felt worldwide.

So the Star-Spangled Banner number stirs pride, Ed Sheeran’s The Shape of You sparks joy and ooh la la! by George Michael best sums up the seductive power.

The 13 key emotions are: Amusement, joy, eroticism, beauty, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness, annoyance, defi ance, and feeling pumped up.

While Vivaldi’s Four Seasons made people feel energised, The Clash’s Rock the Casbah pumped them up and Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together evoked sensuality.

“Imagine organising a massively eclectic music library by emotion and capturing the combination of feelings associated with each track. That’s essentially what our study has done,” said study lead author Alan Cowen, a UC Berkeley doctoral student in neuroscience.

To reach this conclusion, scientists at the University of California,

Berkeley, have surveyed more than 2,500 people in the US and China about their emotional responses to thousands of songs from genres including rock, folk, jazz, classical, marching band, experimental and heavy metal.

Cowen translated the data into an interactive audio map, where visitors can move their cursors to listen to any of thousands of music snippets to fi nd out, among other things, if

their emotional reactions match how people from diff erent cultures respond to the music.

While both US and Chinese study participants identifi ed similar emotions – such as feeling fear hearing the Jaws movie score – they diff ered on whether those emotions made them feel good or bad.

“People from diff erent cultures can agree that a song is angry, but can diff er on whether that feeling is

positive or negative,” said Cowen.Furthermore, across cultures,

study participants mostly agreed on general emotional characterisations of musical sounds, such as angry, joyful and annoying.

But their opinions varied on the level of ‘arousal,’ which refers in the study to the degree of calmness or stimulation evoked by a piece of music.

“We have rigorously documented

the largest array of emotions that are universally felt through the language of music,” said study senior author Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The participants for the study were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk’s (MTurk) crowdsourcing platform.

The volunteers scanned thousands of videos on YouTube for music evoking a variety of emotions. From those, the researchers built a collection of audio clips to use in their experiments.

Using statistical analyses, the researchers arrived at 13 overall categories of experience that were preserved across cultures and found to correspond to specifi c feelings, such as being ‘depressing’ or ‘dreamy.’

Heavy metal was widely viewed as defi ant and, just as its composer intended, the shower scene score from the movie Psycho triggered fear.

“Music is a universal language, but we don’t always pay enough attention to what it’s saying and how it’s being understood,” Cowen noted. – IANS


COMMUNITY CARTOONS/PUZZLES

Adam

Pooch Cafe

Garfield

Bound And Gagged

Codeword

Wordsearch

Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once. Squares with the same number in have the same letter in. Work out which number represents which letter.

Puzz

les

cour

tesy

: Puz

zlec

hoic

e.co

m

Sudoku

Sudoku is a puzzle based

on a 9x9 grid. The grid is

also divided into nine (3x3)

boxes. You are given a

selection of values and to

complete the puzzle, you

must fill the grid so that

every column, every anone

is repeated.

CONGONIGERSHIRECUANZANILETANACUBANGO

ORANGEUBANGIGAMBIARUFIJI VAALJUBASAVE

VOLTALIMPOPOSENEGALZAMBEZILOMAMISHARI


COMMUNITYPUZZLES

Colouring

Answers

Wordsearch Codeword

Across1 It provides illumination for the French politician (4)3 Dull players finished first (8)9 Rolled gold on a boat (7)10 Once more making a profit (5)11 Times for musicians in the Stockport Empire (5)12 Agree while getting told to go? (6)14 Film star Burr hit Conrad in play (7,6)17 Country in the Himalayas (6)19 Become red in the face or hand (5)22 Mad artist receives offer (5)23 Father has to bury an artist (7)24 Sheer rip. perhaps (8)25 A bird for the architect (4)

Super Cryptic Clues

Solution

Down1 Spills, perhaps, in boats (8)2 Note going backwards and forwards (5)4 Food that cooks have made plain (4-3-3,3)5 Raises backs (5)6 Anti-anti-gas-explosion? (7)7 Lean nurse (4)8 Coventry’s lady rider - but not in dressage event! (6)13 No hunter may reveal fugitive (2,3,3)15 Room in church getting colour (7)16 Not just lacking in beauty (6)18 Mountains in an American desert? (5)20 Unqualified to speak (5)21 Support for piano? (4)


COMMUNITY REVIEWS

By Robert Levin

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Ryan Reynolds stars as a billionaire code-named One, who forms a team

of vigilantes that fake their deaths in order to go deep undercover as “ghosts.” Their fi rst serious mission: targeting the corrupt ruler of the fi ctional Middle Eastern nation of Turgistan. Lots of explosions ensue, in the typical Michael Bay fashion.

6 Underground fi nds Bay in vintage fi lmmaking form, over-directing every minute of the movie to the point where it’s nearly incomprehensible. That’s certainly his characteristic style, so it’s hard to be surprised by encountering it here, but Bay’s fi rst movie for Netfl ix utterly lacks the fun characterisations and genuinely humorous moments that set apart his best work, such as The Rock. Everyone involved in this movie

– from the director to Reynolds and the rest of the cast – is on total autopilot.

The fi lm begins with a car chase through the streets of Florence that

is cut into smithereens, without any of the establishing perspective necessary to create a suspenseful cinematic sequence. There are endless, disorienting low-angle

close-ups of Reynolds and his co-stars (including Dave Franco and the great actress Melanie Laurent, who had better have gotten a big paycheck for this) and lots of weirdly comic slow-motion digressions to fully establish the fundamental truth that none of this matters in the slightest.

Once this endless, headache-inducing sequence mercifully wraps up, the screenplay by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese hastily establishes the thin backstory that involves Reynolds and the other fi ve members of his team faking their deaths and beginning to pursue their ill-defi ned work off the grid. It’s never clear why they needed to take such a drastic step to take part in what is really just garden variety movie espionage, very low-rent James Bond stuff , but there you have it.

With villains that are stock types straight out of a bad ‘80s genre picture, main characters that are so sketichly crafted that you’d be hard pressed to identify one distinguishing thing about them and a general aesthetic approach that

resembles a terrible perfume ad with explosions, there’s precious little in the way of a saving grace here.

The best action movies are fundamentally rooted in some form of reality. That’s either manifest in the creation of scenes that feel like they could really happen – say, the renowned car chase in The French Connection – or the presence of actors who are capable of elevating ridiculous material to an entertaining place. Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery did that in Bay’s The Rock, and the same is largely true of the Armageddon ensemble that included everyone from Steve Buscemi to Billy Bob Thornton.

6 Underground has none of this. It is a chore to watch from start to fi nish. No amount of Bay’s usual fi xations, from endless camera movements to shots of helicopters framed against the warm glow of the sun, can change that reality.

This is a terrible action movie that utilises Michael Bay’s worst instincts and none of his best.

– Newsday/TNS

Jordan, Foxx fight for justice in true-life Death Row dramaBy Michael Phillips

Just Mercy is solid, meat-and-potatoes docudrama fi lmmaking, if you don’t mind a fi rst-rate story of systemic injustice

undercut by second-rate dialogue. No character can go two sentences without clarifying a legal point for the audience’s benefi t, or reiterating a tidy, just-so note of stirring idealism. By the time the movie arrives at its courtroom climax, however, there’s an easy way to determine whether fi lm’s limitations are about to be overturned by its strengths: You do, in fact, hold your breath for a suspenseful, interminable 2.6-second interval before a judge’s fi nal verdict. Call Just Mercy a split decision, or something like that.

The movie comes from a 2014 bestseller by civil rights activist Bryan Stephenson, co-founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and a passionate advocate for Death Row inmates railroaded, to varying and outrageous degrees, by the justice and incarceration industry. Like the memoir, the fi lm focuses on Stephenson, played by Michael B Jordan, who also served as a producer. He’s a Harvard-educated Delaware native who arrives in Georgia in the late 1980s. The story soon moves to Monroeville, Ala., best

known as the real-life inspiration for native daughter Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

One case in particular leaps out of a crowded pack: the 1987 arrest, on murder charges, of Walter McMillian, an African-American pulpwood business owner accused of killing an 18-year-old white woman. Soon enough, Stephenson realises how faulty and selective the evidence against McMillian really was. The activist gradually convinces the prisoner’s family, and then McMillian himself, that he has a shot at redemption.

Jamie Foxx plays McMillian; in the script by director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) and Andrew Lanham, he’s something of a supporting player in his own story, although in this fact-based story, and this movie, he’s not back-benched by a white saviour fi gure. (Small favors.)

In dramatic terms, both Stephenson and McMillian have a hard time competing with two other characters, played by terrifi cally reliable actors. Rob Morgan, so good in Mudbound, The Last Black Man in San Francisco and, well, everything, portrays McMillian’s fellow Death Row inmate Herbert Richardson, a Vietnam veteran living with PTSD and dying, minute by minute, as he awaits his fate. The anguished subtlety Morgan brings to this man’s plight is heartrending.

In a very diff erent key, Tim Blake Nelson goes to town as the prisoner

whose contradictory testimony against McMillian has “put-up job” written all over it. We get half of what we need in the character’s behind-the-back establishing shot, as Nelson rolls down a prison hallway, his neck bobbing and weaving as if not quite attached properly; it’s a complicated physical performance, but Nelson never settles for mere externals.

Jordan, by contrast and like the rest of the picture, makes do with a standard-issue portrait of the activist-warrior at the centre. (At one point he tells his mother: “You always taught me to fi ght for the people who need the help the most,” which sounds more like a speech than actual human speech.) As Stephenson’s colleague and friend, Brie Larson manages what she can, where she can. The fi lm runs a little over two hours, and covers various compelling stories in and out of prison, yet the people end up feeling slightly surface-y.

What’s missing, I think, is a sense of human complication within an inhuman judicial sphere. While Foxx works wonders, especially in his scenes with Jordan, Just Mercy rarely gets under the skin or behind the eyes of McMillian. As is often the case in the movies, the script does its job, barely, leaving the actors to discover their own moments of introspection and revelation – often without saying a word.

– Chicago Tribune/TNS

Terrible action movie, a chore to watch

Thursday, January 9, 2020 15GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYSHOWBIZ

Timothee Chalamet in talks for Bob Dylan biopic

Actor Timothee Chalamet is in talks to essay the role of singer Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s movie, which will follow Dylan’s rise to fame and journey of becoming a folk music icon.

The Fox Searchlight fi lm is titled Going Electric, reports variety.com

The news comes after a busy year for Chalamet, who most recently appeared in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women adaptation and starred in Netfl ix’s historical drama The King.

He will next be seen in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune with Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin,

Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

Mangold most recently scored rave reviews for Ford v Ferrari, which stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale and tells the true story of the automotive team at Ford, led by designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his British driver Ken Miles (Bale), as they build a race car in an attempt to beat the legendary Ferrari at the prestigious Le Mans race.

He previously directed and co-wrote the critically acclaimed Logan, which went on to become the fi rst live-action superhero movie to be nominated for screenwriting at the Academy Awards.

– IANS

Bhumi: Will showcase varied shades of being

a woman in 2020

After having a successful run in 2019 with fi lms like Saand Ki Aankh, Bala and Pati Patni Aur Woh, actress Bhumi Pednekar

is looking forward to 2020 and says she will showcase diff erent shades of being a woman this year.

“For me, how I portray women in cinema matters a lot and next year will see me portray some really distinctive, independent, confi dent and individualistic women. I think I will showcase the diff erent shades of being a woman next year (2020),” Bhumi said.

The 30-year-old actress will be seen as a leading lady in the Akshay Kumar presentation Durgavati and Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare. She will also have cameos in the Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan and Vicky Kaushal’s Bhoot : The Haunted Ship.

“I’m really excited that I am getting to play such a varied mix of women who I hope will stand out and make a statement for who they are, what they believe in and what they stand for. It is great that women are being championed and being celebrated in so many fi lms and I feel nice that I have been part of such cinema,” she said.

Bhumi says she will continue looking for and choosing such cinema because it appeals to her strongly.

The Toilet: Ek Prem Katha actress says she has never ever chosen a fi lm in which her part had nothing

important to say. “Such fi lms don’t excite me and I don’t connect with it. My characters have always had a voice of her own and stood her ground and was vocal about her decisions and

beliefs. I gravitate to such characters easily and I think audiences too expect to see me play such parts that represent today’s women,” she added.

– IANS

Kangana inspired to consider marriage thanks to this man

There is fi nally a man in Bollywood who inspired Kangana Ranaut to settle down in marriage, and he is married!

Before you jump to conclusions that Kangana has found the man of her dreams, let us clarify: Kangana was merely talking about fi lmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, who is the husband of Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, who has directed her upcoming fi lm, Panga.

“Undeniably, I have always felt it is diffi cult to fi nd someone who will be on the same level. However, after having met Nitesh Tiwari, and noticing them so amicable and loving in their marriage, my opinion on marriage has changed. He supports his wife so wholeheartedly. Marriage seems possible to me now,” Kangana told Deccan Chronicle, reports fi lmibeat.com

Kangana also revealed how her dream man should be. “He should be someone more intelligent, beautiful (handsome), and more talented than me,” she declared, adding that she does “have a romantic side”.

“I don’t remember a life when I

have been out of love. I have had bad experiences with love, but I move on quickly,” she said.

Uh...huh! Wedding bells round the corner, Kangana?!

– IANS

WOMANHOOD: Bhumi Pednekar says: “It is great that women are being championed and being celebrated in so many films.”

CHANGE OF MIND: Kangana Ranaut during the launch of the first song of film Panga in Mumbai.

Robbie wants to feel scared while picking projects

Actress Margot Robbie says she wants to feel scared while picking a new project.

In an interview with V Magazine, the actress, 29, opened up about her process of picking roles, reports etcanada.com

“I always want to feel a little bit scared when I take on a role,” Robbie said, adding: “And to be pushing

myself in some way.”Robbie feels she has

found the right way to pick projects, but she says she is still trying to fi gure out the “fame” chapter of showbiz.

“Fame is such a weird thing. It has this way of coming on very quickly. And I felt very untethered by it,” she said.

The actress said that getting into production helped her deal with fame.

She said: “I was searching for diff erent ways of taking control of my life, to get where I wanted to be. As a producer, you get to be a part of everything. And not just on set, but in the years it takes up to that point. I like exercising that business-savvy part of my brain-even doing the tax-incentive.”

She was last seen in Bombshell. She will be coming back on the big screen as Harley Quinn in Birds Of Prey. She will come with her gang Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary, and Rosie Perez’s detective Renee Montoya. – IANS

WEIRD: Margot Robbie says: “Fame is a weird thing.”

MUSIC ICON: US singer Bob Dylan, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature.


COMMUNITY

What can get better than a healthy activity fi lled will colours and music? Nothing really!

People of all ages are going to have a fun at The Color Run that returns to Doha this month on January 25 at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). Presented by Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First, the event off ers the ‘Happiest 5k on the Planet’. In a fi ve kilometre run, the participants will be sprinkled with bright and shiny colours. The Color Run is an initiative of Weill Cornell Medicine — Qatar and will take place from 7am to 12pm.

The sixth edition returns under the theme of ‘Love Tour’ to celebrate the bond that ties people together, and to raise awareness on the health benefi ts of keeping an active lifestyle. It is a fi ve-kilometre, untimed event. The runners are doused from head to toe in a diff erent colour powders at each kilometre mark. The participants wear white at the starting line and fi nish the race plastered in popping hues.

Once the 5k is over, the fun continues at the fi nish festival: a larger-than-life party equipped with music, dancing, photo opportunities, activity booths, vendors, and more massive colour throws. The vivid colour combinations give runners the best post-run party on the planet.

The event is free for ‘Little Color Runners’ (aged 4 and under) without participant pack. ‘Little Color Runners’ (aged 4 and under) with participant pack will cost QR55 for one child. ‘Regular Color Runner’ is for QR170. ‘Deluxe Color Runner’ is for QR280.

The participants will also get their packs at the Color Run. The fi rst pack is ‘2020 Limited Edition Love Tour Little Color Runner Participant Pack’. It will include a love T-shirt, headband, re-usable bag, medal at the fi nish line, sun tattoo, badge, bib, welcome card,

sponsor goodies, and colour packet at the fi nish line.

The ‘Regular Participant Pack’ will have a love T-shirt, headband, re-usable bag, medal at the fi nish line, sun tattoo, badge, bib, welcome card, sponsor goodies and colour packet at the fi nish line. The ‘Deluxe Participant Pack’ contains deluxe parking, 2020 Limited Edition Love Tour glasses, socks, bracelet and bandana, love T-shirt, headband, reusable bag, medal at the fi nish line, sun tattoo, badge, bib, welcome card, sponsor goodies, and colour packet at the fi nish line.

Christian Moufarrej, Event Director of The Color Run presented by Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First, spoke to Community about how successful the event has been so far in Doha.

When asked how successful the previous fi ve Color Run events held in Doha were, the organiser said: “We have seen the The Color Run presented by Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First grow in numbers of participants each year. Last year we had a massive turnout of over 10,000 participants, and we are expecting the sixth edition this year

to be even bigger with more people attending and participating. The Color Run is a great way for people to spend time with their families and friends having fun in a way that is benefi cial for their health and wellbeing.”

Asked if there is anything new that the Color Run will be off ering the runners this year, Christian said, “The Color Run is always bringing something new every year and this year is no exception. The theme for this year is ‘Love Tour.’ It is all about spreading love and good vibes, and creating awareness about the benefi ts of keeping fi t.

“With this year’s edition promising to be bigger than all our previous ones, participants can expect more colours, more fun, and limited-edition items in their participant packs. The post 5k party is going to be one of the best colourful parties to be hosted so far.”

The organiser has a word of advice for the participants to that they can make the most of it. “The Color Run is not a timed competition. Everyone can choose to run, walk, skip or jog throughout the 5km distance, and everyone can celebrate their achievements with prizes, music, photo opportunities, and myriads of unforgettable moments at the fi nish line, along with a medal. Bring your family and friends and try this one-of-a-kind experience.”

Running in popping coloursPresented by Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First, the sixth edition

of The Color Run is set to be held on January 25 at Qatar

National Convention Centre , writes Mudassir Raja

SPLASHING COLOURS: The runners are doused from head to toe in a diff erent colour powders at each kilometre mark. File photos

AFTER PARTY: Once the 5k is over, the fun continues at the finish festival: a larger-than-life party equipped with music, dancing, photo opportunities, activity booths, vendors, and more massive colour throws.

Documents

Failure is success - Gulf Times