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• Georgetown inQatar welcomesClass of 2017

• You don’t needto be vegan toappreciate tofu

• A weight controlkit that makes pills redundant

• Dream It!: Recallingthe bumpy beginningto the Disney empire

• Smart Mini is a value deal: Review of the latest offering from Vodafone.

insideEightlessons fromsummer movies

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Learn Arabic lessons will resume from September 1, 2013

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As lodges and shanty towns proliferate in Kenya’s Masai Mara, drastic and urgent steps are needed to save this beautiful game reserve from becoming an environmental disaster.

Masai Mara Masai Mara could vanishcould vanish

2 COVER STORYPLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

Our vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. “There, now watch,” says Josphat, my exacting young Masai guide. We cut the engine and the silence is acute.

Josphat points out a cheetah’s head in an ocean of golden grass. One minibus has already pulled up on another sandy track a few hundred metres away and four heads are craning out of the roof. We sit and watch for the cheetah. All of a sud-den white minibuses crest the horizon in droves. We are in a stampede. Eight of them surround us. Within five minutes we have counted 30, the drivers communicating via radio to make sure their clients tick off “the big five”. A cheetah will never kill like this; its prey will have been alerted. And if it has killed, the vehicles will make it blind to a subsequent hyena attack. But this cheetah is now nowhere to be seen. Undeterred, the mini-bus drivers start ploughing into the long grass. Eventually they give up. I ask if this happens often. Every day, Josphat says.

Josphat is a member of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, which means he knows the Latin names and mating rituals of every ani-mal in his domain. He is 27, small, intelligent and deeply serious about his work. He is accustomed to tracking animals and avoiding humans, but he is also proving adept at the inverse, showing me the “real” Masai Mara. One of the greatest natural spectacles on earth is under way. More than a million hungry wildebeest are on their way from Tanzania to Kenya’s Mara National Reserve to raze tons of sweet red-oat grass. Primordial gnus are the stars of the show, but in support-ing roles are a few hundred thousand zebras and half a million Thomson’s gazelles; then there are the resident crocodiles, lions, hyenas, leopards and cheetahs.

Their show is in danger of being upstaged. Every year, thousands upon thousands of tourists descend on the Masai Mara to witness the migra-tion. The resident human population is increas-ing; lodges are proliferating. Rampant corruption means money is not filtering down to the Masai

population, who are increasingly turning to char-coal and arable farming to make ends meet. In short, mankind is in danger of squandering one of the most important habitats left in the world.

“It will not be long before it is gone, unless some drastic and urgent steps are taken now,” says Joseph Ogutu, a scientist who has studied changes in the area’s fauna for 24 years. The Masai Mara represents the northern quarter of the Serengeti ecosystem that stretches down into Tanzania. The wild animals that remain here require vast and various dispersal areas to survive drought, predators and human pressure. These safe havens are disappearing. Lodges surrounding the park have erected kilometres of electric fencing; lions have been known to use them to trap their prey. Shanty towns are developing fast, and some may soon be on the national grid. There are too many cows for not enough land, and wheat fields are advancing (wheat has become a swearword among conservationists). Human waste is being buried or dumped. The environment is display-ing symptoms of its mismanagement. Algae are emerging in rivers upstream, a consequence of fertiliser use. The Mara river, where wildebeest cross from Tanzania, dried up completely in 2009, says Dickson Kaelo, a respected Masai guide. He recalls seeing scores of minibuses queueing to watch wildebeest splash through the water. But there was “just dust”. Inside the treasured reserve, monkeys play with crisps packets. Even the predators’ behaviour is changing. Malaika is a cheetah who will sit on the roof of your car; Josphat is disgusted by the guides who encourage her, to secure a good tip.

Kenya’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism and the core area, the Mara National Reserve, generates an estimated £13m each year. The place projects a timelessness that speaks to notions of man’s origins and the beginnings of time. But it also epitomises a modern conflict over land and resources playing out across Africa today.

Landowner Kaitet Ole Naingisa sips hot choco-late in a central Nairobi cafe. He has travelled

to the capital to present his case to the commis-sioner of lands. He pulls his title deed from a brown A4 envelope. Naingisa’s family had a plot close to the National Reserve in Siana where they had lived for more than 20 years, and where his 10 children are being schooled. Siana was one of many “group ranches”, areas of communal land around the reserve, which have been subdivided among members in recent decades. It was this subdivision, locals say, that opened the door for the land-grabbing that is now epic in scale. When the land registry finally issued Naingisa with his title deeds last year, he got “this”, he says, bran-dishing the embossed title deed to plot 366, far from his home, on unproductive land. The deed states his name as the land’s original owner, but another name is semi-legible beneath it. There is a hole in the paper where someone has tried to rub it out. This is not his original land; the authorities have fiddled it, he says.

In battling for their rights, the Masai are seen as greedy by many conservationists, but most are not, an exasperated Josphat says: they just want their rightful share. The Masai occupied most of western Kenya at the turn of the 20th century, but disease, massive evictions by British colonialists and civil war reduced them to only 0.5 percent of the population. Centuries of sur-vival in harsh lands gave them a strong sense of mutualism, but a culture of cronyism now pits the Masai against one another. The uneducated minority are represented, and exploited, by an educated few. There are countless lawsuits lan-guishing in the courts and a number of unsolved, politically motivated murders. Paramilitary police have carried out forced evictions by night. People are bitter, and trust has eroded. Somali emigres run thriving businesses in the Mara, because the Masai trust them more than Kenyan tribes.

Until last year, the Mara National Reserve, 371,000 acres of government-owned land, was administered by two different county councils. Now it is united under a new governor. “We call him the Big Fish,” a young herdsman says.

The Masai Mara: ‘It will not be long before it’s gone’

3PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

One half of the administration had outsourced its management to a con-servation group, one that received praise for its environmental work but faced allegations of corruption. Samuel Tunai, the “Big Fish”, was on its board of directors. He holds a stake in more than 2,000 acres of prime land that were once part of the reserve but then given to the community to use. The land now boasts three luxury camps. There had also been allegations of corruption on the other side of the administration, and management was said to be worse. But now, under Kenya’s new constitution, Tunai, as governor, is in charge of both administrations. He has rejected claims that his involvement in the Mara repre-sents a conflict of interest. Attempts to contact him proved unsuccessful.

Three decades ago, the Masai com-munity gave president Daniel Arap Moi a parcel of land on the northern escarpment, a gesture that belonged to a more honourable era when “grabber” didn’t feature in the local vernacular. Moi built a spectacular lodge with the only tarmac landing strip in the Mara. Today his presidential pied-a-terre, Ol Kurruk, has fallen into ruin. The buildings have either collapsed or been gutted by fire. Huge herds of giraffe and zebra have moved in. As we pick through the demolished rooms, small antelope, lizards and monkeys skitter away. Communities living on the escarp-ment fear Tunai plans to turn it into yet another luxury lodge.

“Today it’s lodges, lodges, lodges. Everybody wants a lodge,” Josphat says in despair. Some of those inside the reserve secure leases by greasing palms; others pay wardens for illegal permits, or start up as temporary camps and never leave. Outside the reserve it’s easier. The first Chinese lodge is under construction on the south-eastern edge of the reserve. Its flat-pack cabins travelled 5,000 miles from China to be constructed on cleared forest. The min-ister for tourism said recently that of 108 tourist operations in the Mara area, only 29 percent were legal. Jake Grieves-Cook, a former chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board who owns a number of camps, estimates there are 7,000 tourist beds in the Mara ecosystem. If this is true, then in the past 10 years, despite a four-year moratorium on development, the number has almost trebled.

Fifty years after the process of

dividing community lands began, it became evident that these traditional pastoral lands would turn into hous-ing estates and farms if something didn’t hold them together. A number of “conservancies” sprang up. These are privately managed reserves, funded directly by tourism, that lease land from communities to be set aside for wild-life. They increase the size of the pro-tected area by 50 percent. Supporters argue that they will be enough to save the Mara; others say they are a stick-ing plaster and can support it for only so long.

Josphat and I venture out to British entrepreneur Richard Branson’s much-discussed new camp, which lies on its own conservancy away from the poli-tics of the National Reserve. We eye the “tents” agog. They could feature in Star Wars, with four-metre pegs supporting futuristic domes. But their aspect is all natural. As we stand next to the infinity pool, a hyena obligingly comes to drink at the stream below. When almost 300 landowners of the surrounding Motorogi community were offered 3,500 shil-lings per hectare per year, they were delighted; the land was so overgrazed it looked worthless. Fast-forward five years and “you wouldn’t recognise it”,

says Tarn Breedveld, Branson’s hand-some young manager. The story is the same across the conservancies: over-grazed land has recovered with only a few years of good management, and ani-mals have come back in great numbers. For tourists, the conservancies give a flavour of what the Masai Mara was.

We drive between two conservancies with Grieves-Cook, an early pioneer of the community-owned model. Night falls and we become hopelessly lost. We drive through herds of buffalo and stop for hippopotamuses to cross the road. When we eventually arrive in camp we are greeted with a hero’s welcome. The tented camps Grieves-Cook operates don’t have menus or cash-bars. Seven hundred acres is budgeted per tent, and a game drive isn’t a treasure hunt. Driving through Olare Orok conserv-ancy, we sit in silence with a pride of lions for an hour as the sun goes down. Cubs tumble around like Andrex puppies and bloated females finish off a wilde-beest as the lone male has a lie-down.

Go on safari, meaning “journey” in Swahili, with someone like Grieves-Cook and such mishaps and surprises will be the moments you remember best. In the early days, trailblazers took guests on a journey in every sense of the word. In

the 1950s, the late Sydney Downey once burst every one of his tyres. His glamor-ous guests were made to stuff them with grass and bump along. Another time, Downey forgot all the food apart from a wheel of cheese. His guests gave him a silver plaque to commemorate “the great cheese safari”. When Downey discovered someone was going to build a permanent structure in his beloved Mara he was “horrified”, his daugh-ter Margaret recalls. Keekorok Lodge opened in 1962 on Downey’s favourite camping site. It is a 200-bed behemoth with tarmac roads and a swimming pool. At 4pm sharp, white minibuses charge out, taking guests on prosaic “game drives”.

Jackson Looseyia, a veteran guide of 26 years and presenter of the BBC’s Big Cat Diaries, is between safaris. I have come to meet him in a private house owned by a wealthy Briton. Looseyia wears rubber sandals made from old tyres, a red-checked shuka, red dress and beaded belt. “I don’t normally eat like this,” he says, feigning embar-rassment at the elegant meal laid on. I believe him. However much time he has spent around westerners, Looseyia is Masai to the core. What concerns him most about the future of the Mara is the rocketing value of land. Africa is ris-ing, the media proclaim, but it is doing so unequally. Wealthy investors in the former Masai rangelands 30km south of Nairobi have driven land up to 12m shillings per acre. Both the Masai, who “suffered big time”, Looseyia says, and the wildlife are gone. “It’s a threat to conservation, it’s a threat to the com-munity. We are bordering the famous Masai Mara National Reserve. That in itself is gold. It could easily go,” he says.

As well as the Serengeti wildebeest that convene every year in the National Reserve, around 300,000 wildebeest from Kenya’s Loita plains used to arrive concurrently and mingle with their Tanzanian counterparts - the “northern migration”. Calvin Cottar, whose fam-ily have been in the Mara for almost 100 years, has seen the Loita migration reduce by 90 percent to 30,000 animals in the past three decades. Wildlife popu-lations crashed by up to 70 percent in that time, according to a Journal of Zoology study, while cows grazing ille-gally inside the reserve were up by 1,100 percent.

The Guardian

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 20134 MARKETPLACE / CAMPUS

Qatar UAE Exchange conducted the first draw of its Summer Surprize promotion recently. Two Massaki Pearl necklaces studded with diamonds, eight Mediacom karaoke sets, 100 gold coins of 3 grams each and 50 Popeye gift vouchers worth QR100 were given to winners. Customers who make a remittance transaction at any of UAE Exchange branches in Qatar get a chance to win 318 prizes. The promotion is valid until October 2 with the final draw on October 3. The event was held under the supervision of Khaled Al Mansoori, inspector from the Ministry of Business and Trade. Edison Fernandez, General Manager, Raju Ramachandran, Marketing Head, Murali S Potty, Operations Head, Syed Ibrahim Qadri, Public Relations Officer, of Qatar UAE Exchange, were present at the draw.

W Doha Hotel & Residences celebrated Starwood’s ‘Road to Awareness’, the associate fundraiser to support Unicef, with a special W Bazaar sale for staff. It was held as part of a continuous Starwood global initiative to help raise money to educate children in Cameroon and Nigeria. Staff were invited to participate in ‘W Bazaar’ at the W Doha, where home-baked cakes, clothes, DVDs, games and other items were for sale.

W Bazaar

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) wel-comed the incoming Class of 2017 at its new student convocation. The 76 entering stu-

dents hail from over 20 countries ranging from China to Yemen to Georgia. Thirty are from Qatar.

The freshmen assembled at the Georgetown audi-torium, processed, and then pledged the honour code. The students were then officially inducted into their promising roles as members of the Georgetown com-munity and officially donned their academic robes.

Gerd Nonneman, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, wel-comed the new students.

“These students are laying the foundation of their future,” Nonneman explained. “Over the next four

years they will develop their capacity not only to change their lives but to positively impact the lives of others. This is the time for students to stretch their boundaries, to challenge themselves, and to showcase all they are capable of as they proceed on this remarkable journey.”

Convocation speaker Dr Jeremy Koons told the Class of 2017: “You have earned your place here. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think that you were the ones who would thrive here, who would make us proud, who would leave this place in four years as Georgetown men and women.”

The Class of 2017 will be part of the population of over 250 students at Georgetown’s Qatar campus this year. The Peninsula

Georgetown in Qatar welcomes Class of 2017

Dean Gerd Nonneman and faculty members.

The Class of 2017

5WHEELS PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

The Porsche Panamera, the brand’s four-seater sports car, is expanding further with the introduction of the second

generation at Porsche Centre Doha, Al Boraq Automobiles. Ten derivatives are now available, with three debut models joining a redeveloped line-up.

Parts of the range are the Panamera 4S Executive and Panamera Turbo Executive, with an extended wheelbase. They take the sporty saloon into the luxurious executive segment. A third new model, the Panamera S E-Hybrid, marks a new technological benchmark as the world’s first plug-in hybrid in the luxury class. A completely new three-litre V6 engine that features biturbo charging for the Panamera S and Panamera 4S is introduced.

New technologies mean fuel savings of up to 56 per cent and – with the exception of the diesel model – more power. The standard version offers a blistering top speed of 259km/h, 310 horsepower and a fuel consumption of just 8.4 l/100km, proving efficiency need not mean a compromise in sport-ing performance.

The model redesign has an enhanced driver experience at its core. The redeveloped Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) with virtual intermediate gears further improves fuel economy and comfort. Newly developed tires, lighter 18-inch wheels and a specifically tuned Porsche Stability Management (PSM) add to the car’s sportiness and comfort.

Visually tighter lines, more pro-nounced contours and newly shaped body elements all combine to enhance the Panamera’s Gran Turismo charac-ter. A widened rear windscreen gives the car a visually lower stance, whilst a wider spoiler and optional LED lights make the new model stand out.

George Wills, Managing Director of Porsche Middle East and Africa FZE, says: “This is a great moment for our brand as we extend the Panamera range

to an unprecedented ten models in the Gran Turismo segment. Each model offers a unique and individual experience, but all bring luxury and comfort together with sporty driving performance.”

The new Executive models — with their 15 cm longer wheelbase –— offer more rear seating space and introduce features for a more private, comfort-able ride. Privacy glass with its tinting and enhanced light reflecting prop-erties is provided for the rear side windows.

Continuing to increase perform-ance and efficiency is the completely new V6 three-litre biturbo engine which is replacing the previous 4.8-litre V8 engine in the Panamera S and Panamera 4S, and is also used in the new Executive version of the Panamera 4S, whereas the Panamera GTS will retain its V8 engine.

The new engine gives the Panamera S and Panamera 4S 20 hp more power and 20 Newton metres more torque, but

with 18 per cent improved fuel economy compared to the previous model.

Central to the new generation is the Panamera S E-Hybrid — a sys-tematically advanced development of the parallel full hybrid, which Porsche introduced to the market as a pioneer in the field. With 416 horsepower, acceleration from 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 270km/h, it is a Porsche Gran Turismo through and through. It is unique in its ability to drive considerable distances in all-electric mode, with a range of up to 36km and an unrivalled electric driving top speed of 135km/h.

Salman Jassem Al Darwish, Chairman & CEO of Porsche Centre Doha, said: “As you would expect, we have had a great deal of interest around the launch of the new Panamera. The new design is a lot more precise, sharper and edgier. It’s a successful combination of traditional values and a forward-looking design.

“I am personally excited about the new Executive versions that represent the best of both worlds: a sporty spin in the driver’s seats or an efficient work session in the comfort of the rear. It is the first time that Porsche has paid special attention to the absolutely exquisite rear compartment. Several features such as 8-way power seats with seat ventilation as well as ther-mally and noise insulated glass with a privacy glazing are just a few features, our customers will be able to enjoy.” PRICE RANGE:

Panamera: QR381,200Panamera 4: QR404,500Panamera Diesel: QR379,000Panamera S: QR459,500Panamera S E-Hybrid: QR482,900Panamera 4S: QR484,000Panamera 4S Executive: QR561,200Panamera GTS: QR522,000Panamera Turbo: QR668,100Panamera Turbo Executive: QR729,100

The Peninsula

All-new Nissan Tiida makes regional debut

Nissan raised the curtain on the All-new Nissan Tiida in the region recently. The completely revised second generation of the compact hatchback has everything to

build on the Tiida nameplate’s established success. Already commanding 54 percent of the expanding compact hatchback segment in the Gulf, Nissan aims to more than double sales and extend market share beyond 60 percent with the introduction of the All-new Nissan Tiida.

”The All-new Nissan Tiida is equipped to reward the diverse lifestyles of the Middle East’s free spirits,” said Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East.

“Tiida is the Middle East’s most established name in the hatchback market, with a customer loyalty second to none in its class. With refreshed design and improved levels of standard technology, the All-new Nissan Tiida will not only appeal to existing

customers but also attract a new range of Middle East buyers looking for a stylish and premium hatchback.”

On September 18, Nissan will create a special “Tiida Moment” with a unique launch event to be held simultaneously in multiple locations across

the region. The hatchback has arrived with sleek styling, best-in-class fuel economy, class-leading interior spaciousness, advanced technology and features typically expected from far more expensive vehicles.

The Peninsula

New Porsche models reach Doha showroom

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 20136 FOOD

BY J M HIRSCH

Many years ago, I was vegan. And I was rather fond of my tofu. That was many years ago. Today I am rather fond of my beef bacon. And steak. And eggs. And all manner

of cheeses.Still, every now and again it’s worth revisiting the

culinary paths we walked before. I may no longer wish to abstain from things meat and dairy, but that doesn’t mean I must in turn abstain from tofu. It is, after all, a healthy, delicious, affordable and versatile protein that — thanks to being naturally lighter than meats and seafood — is particularly good in summer.

Back in the day, I loved cutting tofu into cubes, then tossing them with chilled soba noodles and spicy peanut sauce. It was a robust, yet cool salad for a warm day. And lately I’ve found myself crav-ing it.

But I decided to play around with the concept a bit. I wanted more flavour. And I wanted to make use of the grill to get it. The results were terrific.

One caution. It is important to search out tofu that is already smoked and baked. Not only is the flavour of this style of tofu better, the texture is superior, as well. It has almost a cheddar cheese-like density. Conventional tofu is watery and flavourless and can be fussy to grill. If you need a shortcut for this recipe, you could use bottled peanut sauce, but the flavour won’t be nearly as good. It would be bet-ter to make the sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, where it will keep (tightly covered) for several days. AP

Spice Peanut Noodle Saladwith Tofu

Start to finish: 40 minutesServings: 6

Ingredients4 cups broccoli floretsOlive oilKosher salt and ground black pepper8-ounce block marinated and baked tofu6.2-ounce package soba noodles2/3 cup natural peanut butter1/4 cup soy sauce1/4 cup water3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar1-inch chunk fresh ginger2 cloves garlicHot sauce, to taste2 scallions, chopped1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Method:Heat the grill to medium. Check the grates

of your grill to see whether the broccoli florets are likely to fall through. If so, line a small bak-ing sheet or metal roasting pan with foil, then mist with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli florets and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss until evenly coated. Season with salt and

pepper.Place the tofu slabs on the grill. Carefully

transfer the broccoli to the grill, either directly on the grates or on the prepared baking sheet or roasting pan. Grill the broc-coli for 3 minutes, the tofu for 8 minutes, or until the broccoli is lightly charred and the tofu is nicely seared. Transfer everything to a baking sheet in a single layer. Place in the refrigerator to cool.

While the broccoli and tofu cool, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook for 5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain well, then transfer to the

baking sheet in the refrigerator to cool.Meanwhile, to prepare the peanut sauce,

in a blender combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic. Blend until smooth. Add a splash of hot sauce, blend then taste and adjust with additional hot sauce, if desired.

When the tofu, broccoli and noodles have cooled, transfer the tofu to a cutting board and cut into bite-size chunks. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl and drizzle the peanut sauce over them. Toss to coat evenly, then add the tofu and broccoli and mix gently. Garnish with chopped scallions and peanuts.

You don’t need to be vegan to appreciate tofu

FITNESS/HEALTH 7

Casey Seidenberg, co-founder of Nourish Schools, a Washington-based nutrition education com-pany, answering questions about creating a healthful family breakfast:

When trying to get break-fast on the table, cereal is the quickest way to go. But are cereals really all that healthy? Even if they’re not the versions with marshmallows or honey, are they healthy enough when paired with (low-fat/skim) milk?

Processed cereals are not as healthful as whole-grain options such as whole oatmeal. The grains in a processed cereal have been broken down, so they don’t provide all of the nutrition a whole grain would, and they often lack fiber, so they enter the bloodstream more quickly than a whole grain, which leaves a child hungry sooner. A better bet for a quick breakfast is a homemade whole-grain muffin, or pre-soaked oatmeal that can be heated quickly.

I switched the term “break-fast” to mean “eat something.” It could be scrambled eggs on toast or a meatloaf sandwich. Some days it was a serving spoon of peanut butter and a glass of milk. Other days it was homemade milkshake with frozen fruit. Our child was in a carpool and I lived with empty glasses and greasy paper towels left in my car.

Leftovers often make a great

breakfast! I agree that we should think out of the box when it comes to breakfast. We don’t need to eat the very American cereals and baked goods. Meats and broth and greens are traditional morning meals in many countries and are a fantastic way to begin any day.

Is there any risk to eating the same thing every day, as long as it’s something healthy?

As long as you are getting a variety of foods and nutrients throughout your day, you are probably fine eating the same healthful breakfast most days. It never hurts to shake it up on weekends or when you have more time to experiment. Perhaps add fresh fruit or some raw nuts to up the nutrition.

It seems to be trendy these days to make your own nut butters, yogurt, flours, etc. Is it worth it? I guess I’m wonder-ing about taste-wise, nutrition-wise and price-wise.

Making your own food is won-derful! If you have the time, of course. I often make nut butters because we eat a lot of them, but I have decided that the ground flours are worth buying since there are wonderful options out there and I don’t have the time to grind my own. Everyone has dif-ferent amounts of time, different comfort levels in the kitchen, dif-ferent budgets, and access to dif-ferent foods, so I believe it is best to decide what works for you and your family.

One of my three kids just plain isn’t hungry in the morn-ing. It takes at least two hours for her stomach to “wake up,” and before that, it’s all I can do to get her to drink a glass of milk. . . . She’s starting kinder-garten next month, and she’ll need to eat something in the morning! I’ve tried smoothies, cereal, pancakes, muffins and all kinds of “treats,” but she just won’t touch anything. Any thoughts?

My advice would be to do three things. First, explain to your child how important breakfast is to a growing child. The Web site www.breakfastfirst.org has some simple statistics and easy-to-explain facts. This might not change her behavior immediately, but it is an important part of your role as a parent to teach her to make the right choices when away from you. Second, see whether you can pack her something to eat on the way to school or even at her desk. If discussed in advance, many teachers will allow a child to eat something at school if there is a good reason for it. Third, think about lighter foods such as smoothies (which I know you have tried!). Ask your child whether it would feel better for her to have a smoothie or a little fruit and plain yogurt instead of something heavier like oatmeal or a baked good. She might be more open to foods if they are labeled “lighter.”

WP-Bloomberg

A weight control kit that makes pills redundant

An Indian American doctor and a fellow phy-sician have co-invented a weight control kit that promises to make weight loss supple-

ments, that risk damage to the liver and kidneys, redundant.

Called SlimPlate System, the “portion control kit” developed by Sandeep Grewal and Myo Nwe, both practising physicians in Rock Hill, South Carolina, marks a radical shift in weight loss planning and control, according to a media release.

Portion control, a dieting method of understand-ing how much a serving size of food is and how many calories or how much food energy a serving contains, is not a new concept. But the SlimPlate System kit makes portion control easy and structured.

“We have presented ‘Weight-Loss In A Box’. Our new SlimPlate System provides a plan, as well as a method, for users to control portion sizes effort-lessly,” the media statement quoted a spokesperson of Ace Medical Weight Loss Centre that produces the kit as saying. Rock Hill-based Ace Medical Weight Loss Centre was co-founded by Grewal and Nwe.

According to the spokesperson, instead of count-ing on people to figure out the correct portion sizes, the makers of the kit have included portion control plates, cups, bowls and a set of unique portion control cutting rings.

“This gets rid of any guesswork. The SlimPlate System is the only system of weight loss that pro-vides tableware that have clearly marked lines that separate the portions of the different groups of foods. Fruits, grains, vegetables and proteins are all kept within different coloured lines for easy portion-control,” he said.

It took two years to develop the kit and the results were presented at the 2012 annual meeting of The American Society of Bariatric Physicians in Orlando, Florida. Grewal is a recipient of the Charlotte Business Journal’s Healthcare Innovator Award for 2013, Nwe holds a diploma from the American Board of Obesity Medicine.

Fruits, vegetables may lower women’s bladder cancer risk

Rsearchers in the United States say their stud-ies suggest that greater consumption of fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of devel-

oping invasive bladder cancer in women. Researchers at the University of Hawaii described in the Journal of Nutrition that they analysed data collected from 185,885 older adults over a period of 12.5 years, Xinhua reported. Overall, 152 women and 429 men were diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer.

After adjusting for variables related to cancer risk, such as age, the researchers found that women who consumed the most fruits and vegetables had the lowest bladder risk.

According to the researchers, women consuming the most yellow-orange vegetables were 52 percent less likely to have bladder cancer than women con-suming the least yellow-orange vegetables.

The study also suggested that women with the highest intake of vitamins A, C and E had the low-est risk of bladder cancer. There are, however, no associations between fruit and vegetable intake and invasive bladder cancer in men, the study found.

“Our study supports the fruit and vegetable rec-ommendation for cancer prevention,” researcher Song-Yi Park at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center said in a statement.

“However, further investigation is needed to understand and explain why the reduced cancer risk with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables was confined to only women,” Park said. Agencies

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

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easo

n

of

the C

ollapsi

ng T

entp

ole

s. A

s m

ega-b

udget

specta

cle

s su

ch a

s W

hit

e

Hou

se D

ow

n, T

he L

on

e R

an

ger

and A

fter

Ea

rth f

ell a

part

at

the b

ox o

ffice, litt

le

engin

es

that

could

— o

ne w

ith a

nam

e

that

was

lite

rally “

Mud”

— p

roved t

hey

could

not

only

surviv

e t

he c

om

peti

tion,

but

thriv

e.

As

we l

earned l

ast

sum

mer,

whic

h

featu

red s

uch d

ebacle

s as

Joh

n C

art

er

an

d

Ba

ttle

ship

, quali

ty sti

ll coun

ts.

Stu

dio

s, w

hic

h g

en

erally a

void

mov-

ies th

at

are n

ovel

or ris

ky or n

ot

base

d o

n a

com

ic b

ook b

ecause

they’r

e

“executi

on d

ependent,

” m

ay s

low

ly b

e

realisi

ng t

hat

everyth

ing’s

executi

on

dependent,

no m

att

er t

he s

tar, so

urce

mate

ria

l or s

pecia

l-eff

ects

budget.

Th

at

goes fo

r en

durin

gly

reli

able

fa

mily fi

lms

as

well —

in t

he p

ile-u

p o

f an

imate

d k

ids’

movie

s th

is s

um

mer,

the t

riu

mphs

happened a

lso t

o b

e t

he

best:

D

esp

ica

ble

Me 2

an

d

Mon

sters

Un

ivers

ity.

Those

vic

torie

s, p

lus

a f

ew

out-

of-

left

-field

hit

s and m

isse

s, m

ade

the

past

few

m

on

ths

parti

cula

rly

in

structi

ve f

or a

nyon

e w

illin

g t

o p

ay

att

enti

on.

Befo

re w

e all

go back

to

sch

ool,

here a

re a

few

lesson

s l

earn

ed t

hat

Holl

yw

ood m

ay w

an

t to

stu

dy up

on

w

hen

it

pla

ns our n

ext

sum

mer

vacati

on.

Even

the b

iggest

sta

rs b

urn

out:

Tw

o of

the big

gest

sta

rs on

th

e

pla

net

—

Wil

l S

mit

h

an

d

Joh

nn

y

Depp —

got

rude aw

ak

en

ings th

is

sum

mer,

when

their

movie

s flopped.

Th

e L

on

e R

an

ger

proved t

hat

a d

ust

y

perio

d W

est

ern b

ase

d o

n a

1930s

radio

se

ria

l —

surpris

e! —

won’t

connect

wit

h

young a

udie

nces

or inte

rnati

onal vie

w-

ers,

regardle

ss o

f explo

sions,

specta

cu-

lar s

tunts

and t

he m

agic

al

Mr D

epp.

Aft

er

Ea

rth h

as

done b

ett

er o

verse

as,

but

probably

not

well e

nough t

o t

urn

a g

enuin

e p

rofit.

It’

s n

ot

just

about

US

:E

ven i

f non-U

S b

ox -

offi

ce r

eceip

ts

can

’t s

ave a

debacle

lik

e A

fter

Ea

rth,

they h

ave t

ipped t

he s

cale

s in

favour

of

Pa

cifi

c R

im,

especia

lly in

C

hin

a:

Guil

lerm

o

del

Toro’s

scie

nce

fic-

tion

fa

nta

sy un

derperfo

rm

ed w

hen

it o

pen

ed d

om

est

ically b

ut

has

more

than m

ade u

p f

or t

hat

in o

ther m

ar-

kets

, la

rgely

due t

o d

el T

oro’s

inst

inc-

tively

glo

bal

poin

t of

vie

w a

nd k

nack

for c

osm

opolita

n c

ast

ing.

Wom

en

aren

’t t

he e

nem

y,

Holl

yw

ood:

On

e o

f th

e b

iggest

surpris

e h

its

of

the s

um

mer w

as

Th

e H

ea

t, t

he o

nly

big

-popcorn m

ovie

to f

eatu

re a

fem

ale

le

ad (

two i

n f

act:

Sandra B

ullock a

nd

Meli

ssa

McC

arth

y).

An

d

an

oth

er

dark h

orse

can a

ttrib

ute

its

success

to

wom

en: B

rad P

itt’

s zo

mbie

chase

-movie

W

orl

d W

ar

Z w

ent

from

dis

ast

erpie

ce

to B

rad’s

hig

hest

-gross

ing fi

lm, th

anks

to t

he w

om

en w

ho m

ade u

p a

whoppin

g

50 p

ercent

of

its

audie

nce.

Bla

ck

fi

lms

don

’t

“overperfo

rm

.”

They p

erfo

rm

, perio

d.

Wit

h s

uccess

es

like F

ruit

vale

Sta

tion

and L

ee D

an

iels

’ T

he B

utl

er,

this

was

a

great

sum

mer f

or A

fric

an

-Am

eric

an

st

orie

s on

screen

. A

nd t

hey b

ecam

e

hit

s, n

ot

just

because

they w

ere g

ood,

but

because

they w

ere m

ade f

or m

od-

est

budgets

and m

arkete

d w

ith s

avvy

and s

ensi

tivit

y.

Lik

e t

he T

yle

r P

erry

oeuvre,

rom

-com

s like Ju

mp

ing a

nd

Bro

om

an

d T

hin

k L

ike a

Ma

n a

nd 4

2

befo

re t

hem

, th

is s

um

mer’s

crop o

f film

s by a

nd a

bout

Afr

ican-A

meric

ans

con

necte

d w

ith j

ust

the r

ight

audi-

en

ces

—

wh

eth

er

that

mean

t th

e

Wein

stein

Com

pan

y r

eachin

g o

ut

to

bla

ck c

hurches

to p

rom

ote

Th

e B

utl

er

or C

odebla

ck E

nte

rta

inm

en

t, w

hic

h

produced K

evi

n H

art

: L

et

Me E

xp

lain

, research

ing H

art’

s ti

cket

sale

s an

d

Tw

itte

r a

nd F

acebook f

ollow

ings.

The

resu

lt?

Let

Me E

xp

lain

was

one o

f th

e

sleeper h

its

of

the s

um

mer,

gross

ing

just

over $

32m

(w

hic

h, coin

cid

enta

lly,

is a

lso t

he g

ross

from

tic

ket

sale

s fr

om

H

art’

s la

st t

our).

A ris

ing ti

de can

’t li

ft all

boats

if

th

e h

arbour i

s t

oo c

row

ded:

Th

e sum

mer m

ovie

season

broke

box-o

ffice r

ecords

this

sum

mer, earn-

ing n

orth

of

$4bn.

But

John F

ithia

n,

presi

den

t an

d c

hie

f executi

ve o

f th

e

Nati

on

al

Associa

tion

of

Th

eatr

e

Ow

ners,

suggests

th

at

stu

dio

s le

ft

mon

ey

on

th

e

table

by

crow

din

g

their

m

ovie

s in

to an

alr

eady busy

three-m

on

th p

erio

d.

“Som

e o

f th

ose

m

ovie

s w

ould

have d

on

e a

lot

bett

er

som

ew

here e

lse. A

fam

ily t

itle

moved

from

sum

mer t

o F

ebruary c

ould

have

increase

d i

ts g

ross

, even s

om

e o

f th

e

popcorn a

cti

on m

ovie

s rele

ase

d s

om

e-

where e

lse c

ould

have i

ncrease

d t

heir

gross,”

F

ith

ian

says.

“Th

ere are 12

month

s on t

he c

ale

ndar. W

e c

onti

nu-

ally u

rge d

istr

ibuto

rs

to s

pread t

heir

m

ovie

s out.

” (H

ear t

hat,

Wh

ite H

ou

se

Dow

n?

Or C

rood

s? O

r T

urb

o?)

Dit

ch t

he c

ape:

“Y

ou don

’t n

eed superh

eroes to

succeed,”

says B

oxoffi

ce.c

om

’s P

hil

Contr

ino. “I

f you l

ook a

t th

e o

ne s

tu-

dio

that

had o

ne o

f th

e b

est

sum

mers

it w

ould

be U

niv

ersa

l —

min

us

R.I

.P.D

— a

nd t

hey h

ad F

ast

an

d F

uri

ou

s 6 a

nd

Desp

ica

ble

Me 2

, [n

eit

her]

a s

uperhero

franchis

e.

This

idea t

hat

you h

ave t

o

take a

superhero a

nd m

ake e

ight

mov-

ies

out

of th

at

characte

r is

not

the o

nly

w

ay t

o g

o.”

That

goes

for f

ran

chis

es

in g

eneral: W

hile s

erie

s in

stallm

ents

li

ke

Perc

y Ja

ck

son

: S

ea

of

Mon

sters

and T

he S

mu

rfs

2 a

rriv

ed i

n t

heatr

es

alr

eady g

asp

ing for a

ir, orig

inal horror

film

s like T

he C

on

juri

ng a

nd T

he P

urg

e

— a

s w

ell a

s th

e l

iterary a

dapta

tions

Th

e G

rea

t G

ats

by

and W

orl

d W

ar

Z —

defied H

ollyw

ood’s

tir

ed r

eboot-

sequel-

franchis

e p

aradig

m. (O

f course

, W

orl

d

Wa

r Z

has

reporte

dly

alr

eady launched

anoth

er f

ranchis

e, and t

he w

orld

goes

‘round a

nd ‘round.)

An

d le

t serio

us dram

as save th

e

day:

On

e o

f th

e m

ost

profita

ble

movie

s of

the s

um

mer w

as

Mu

d,

an

atm

os-

pheric

bayou t

hrille

r s

tarrin

g M

att

hew

M

cC

on

aughey i

n t

he t

itle

role

; aft

er

openin

g in t

heatr

es

in A

pril, it

pla

yed

all s

um

mer long, st

ill att

racti

ng a

udi-

en

ces

even

when

it

was

available

on

D

VD

. S

imilar s

uccess

es

inclu

de T

he

Pla

ce B

eyon

d t

he P

ines,

th

e m

id-l

ife

rom

an

ce

Befo

re

Mid

nig

ht,

W

oody

Allen

’s B

lue J

asm

ine,

the c

om

ing-o

f-age c

om

edy T

he W

ay,

Wa

y B

ack

an

d

the e

moti

onally g

rip

pin

g u

rban d

ram

a

Fru

itva

le S

tati

on. A

ll o

f th

ese

win

ners

prove t

hat

“the a

udie

nce is

really c

rav-

ing c

lass

ic fi

lmm

akin

g,”

says

How

ard

Coh

en

, co-presid

en

t of

Roadsid

e

Att

racti

on

s, M

ud’s

dis

trib

uto

r.

“Mu

d

had M

att

hew

McC

on

aughey,

it h

ad

som

e a

mbit

ion

, it

had s

om

e s

cope,

it

was

access

ible

for t

he w

hole

countr

y, it

w

as

not

cult

urally e

xclu

sive. B

ut

most

[i

mporta

nt]

, it

was

a m

ovie

for g

row

n-

ups,

the k

ind t

hat’

s not

gett

ing m

ade

anym

ore o

uts

ide m

ovie

s engin

eered for

Osc

ars.

”

We m

ay be gett

ing over 3-D

here

but

it i

sn

’t o

ver o

ver t

here.

Aft

er a

mad r

ush

to c

onvert

mov-

ies

an

d t

heate

rs

to 3

-D i

n t

he w

ake

of

blo

ckbust

ers

like A

vata

r and A

lice

in W

on

derl

an

d,

the 3

-D m

arket

has

matu

red i

n t

he U

nit

ed S

tate

s.

Less

than

a th

ird of

box-o

ffice reven

ues

for

two

of

the

sum

mer’s

big

gest

hit

s —

Desp

ica

ble

Me 2

an

d M

on

sters

Un

ivers

ity —

cam

e f

rom

3-D

prem

i-um

s. S

ays

Nato

’s F

ithia

n, th

e s

uccess

of 3-D

“breaks

dow

n g

eographic

ally a

s w

ell a

s [b

y]

genre. 3-D

did

prett

y w

ell

inte

rnati

onally t

his

sum

mer, but

not

so

hot

dom

est

ically.”

Genre-w

ise, he s

ays,

“F

am

ily t

itle

s, p

arti

cula

rly

in

volv

ing

young c

hildren, aren’t

workin

g o

n 3

-D

as

well a

s w

e t

hought.

” M

eanw

hile, an

adapta

tion

of

a J

azz

Age n

ovel

by F

S

cott

F

itzgerald

does gan

gbuste

rs.

Says

Fit

hia

n,

“3-D

’s n

ot

goin

g a

way

in t

he U

nit

ed S

tate

s, b

ut

we h

ave t

o

be m

ore s

ele

cti

ve in t

he m

ovie

s w

here

we e

xpect

it t

o w

ork.”

W

P-B

loom

ber

g

PLU

S |

SU

ND

AY

25

AU

GU

ST 2

013

Mad

ras

Cafe

: Tau

t po

litic

al t

hrill

erB

y S

ub

has

h K

Jh

a

Fil

m:

Ma

dra

s C

afe

Cast

: Jo

hn A

braham

, N

argis

Fakhri and R

aash

i K

hanna

Dir

ecto

r: S

hoojit

Sir

car

If o

nly

his

tory

co

uld

be c

han

ged

by

art

. C

inem

a i

s a p

ow

erf

ul

med

ium

fo

r so

cio

-p

olit

ical e

xp

ress

ion

an

d revo

lutio

n. A

las,

in th

is c

ou

ntr

y, e

nte

rtain

men

t en

gag

es

all

oth

er

asp

ects

of

life o

n c

ellu

loid

.B

ut

seri

ou

sly,

it’s

tim

e n

ow

to

get

off

th

e C

henn

ai E

xpre

ss a

nd

get

into

Mad

ras

Caf

e fo

r a c

up

of

the c

om

pelli

ng

. W

e n

eed

a r

ealit

y ch

eck.

An

d w

e n

eed

to

reg

ain

a

sen

se o

f h

isto

ry in

Bo

llyw

oo

d c

inem

a w

hic

h s

eem

s lo

st in

th

e h

oary

art

of

stre

ets

ide

tam

ash

a,

glo

rified

an

d a

gg

ran

dis

ed

by

pro

cess

es

of

cin

em

atics

that

are

perc

eiv

ed

to

be t

he e

lixir o

f p

op

cu

ltu

re.

It is

tim

e fo

r m

ain

stre

am

ente

rtain

ment to

gro

w u

p. H

eig

hte

ned

realis

m is

a m

eans

to

achie

ve a

syn

thesi

s o

f fa

nta

sy a

nd

his

tory

in this

deft

ly s

crip

ted

sem

i-fictio

nal a

cco

unt

of

the p

rocess

es

lead

ing

to

Rajiv

Gan

dh

i’s t

rag

ic a

ssass

inatio

n in

19

91

.T

he t

ren

ch

an

t sc

rip

t, c

o-w

ritt

en

by

So

mn

ath

Dey

an

d S

hu

ben

du

Bh

att

ach

ary

a,

att

em

pts

an

d s

ucceed

s i

n b

uild

ing

th

e s

am

e s

pir

al

of

pseu

do

-his

tory

th

at

Oliv

er

Sto

ne b

uilt

in

JF

K.

I fe

el In

dia

n p

olit

ics,

becau

se o

f th

e c

ou

ntr

y’s

mu

lti-

cu

ltu

rism

, is

fa

r m

ore

co

mp

lex t

han

its

Am

erican

or

Eu

rop

ean

co

un

terp

art

. O

ur

cin

em

a t

en

ds

to

dilu

te, si

mp

lify

an

d trivi

alis

e h

isto

ry b

ecau

se w

e a

re m

uch

to

o w

ary

of an

d la

zy a

bo

ut

gett

ing

in

volv

ed

. N

ot

Sh

oo

jit S

ircar. N

ot

Mad

ras

Caf

e. N

ot

Jo

hn

Ab

rah

am

. W

hat

a

co

ura

geo

us

pro

du

cer

an

d a

cto

r Jo

hn

has

pro

ven

him

self t

o b

e!

Let

me s

ay

rig

ht

aw

ay,

th

at

to u

nd

ers

tan

d t

he e

no

rmity

of th

e s

tory

to

ld in

Mad

ras

Cafe

, th

e a

ud

ien

ce o

ug

ht

to b

e f

am

iliar

with

th

e v

iole

nt

his

tory

of

the S

ri L

an

kan

civ

il w

ar. B

ut

eve

n if

yo

u d

on

’t k

no

w t

hat

tho

usa

nd

s o

f Ta

mili

an

s d

ied

in t

he w

ar

of

sep

a-

ratism

, it is

no

sw

eat

off

th

e s

cre

en

pla

y’s

back.

Tucked

aw

ay

in t

he c

om

pelli

ng

cre

ase

s o

f th

e p

lot

is a

terr

ific t

hrille

r ab

out

the

ass

ass

inatio

n o

f a p

rim

e m

inis

ter, w

ho

, le

t it b

e k

no

wn

, is

no

t n

am

ed

in t

he fi

lm. N

or

are

th

e L

TT

E (

Lib

era

tio

n T

igers

of

Tam

il E

ela

m), P

rab

akara

n a

nd

th

e o

ther

key

pla

y-ers

. B

ut

then

th

is is

Ind

ia.

Here

, se

cre

cy

an

d s

tealth

are

th

e f

ou

nd

ing

fath

ers

of

an

y p

olit

ical e

xp

ose

.B

ut

you

can

’t e

scap

e t

he c

lutc

hes

of

his

tory

’s t

yran

ny.

Sircar’s

skill

ful i

nte

rweave

-m

en

t o

f fa

ct

an

d fi

ctio

n le

ave

s lit

tle r

oo

m f

or

scep

ticis

m. W

e k

no

w a

s w

e w

atc

h w

ith

h

elp

less

ast

on

ish

men

t, t

hat

the ‘

Prim

e M

inis

ter’

will

die

, th

at

the h

ero

in

th

is c

ase

w

on

’t b

e a

ble

to

save

him

.S

uch

are

th

e h

ero

es

in r

eal

life.

Un

sun

g,

size

s sm

alle

r th

an

life.

Jo

hn

Ab

rah

am

sk

ips

into

th

e p

art

of

the R

AW

ag

en

t V

ikra

m S

ing

h w

ith

an

ease

an

d c

om

fort

of

a

natu

ral-

bo

rn s

ecre

t ag

en

t. If

Jam

es

Bo

nd

or

for

that

matt

er

Kab

ir K

han

’s T

iger

were

to

have

any

truck w

ith real-

life p

olit

ics,

they

wo

uld

have

been a

s b

elie

vab

ly b

rave

and

as

cre

dib

ly h

ero

ic a

s Jo

hn

in t

his

film

.S

pecia

lly r

ivetin

g is

Pra

kash

Bela

wad

e a

s Jo

hn

’s a

sso

cia

te,

wh

o s

eem

s to

drin

k

hard

to

esc

ap

e f

rom

th

e e

no

rmity

of

his

co

mp

rom

ise.

Eve

n N

arg

is F

akh

ri,

so s

elf-

co

nsc

iou

sly

aff

ecte

d a

s R

an

bir K

ap

oo

r’s

do

om

ed

so

ul-

mate

in

Ro

ckst

ar, n

ails

her

war

co

rresp

on

den

t’s

part

with

her

rad

ian

t p

rese

nce.

Bu

t I

have

a q

uib

ble

with

her

ch

ara

cte

r Jaya.

Wh

y d

oes J

aya s

peak i

n E

ng

lish

wh

ile V

ikra

m a

nsw

ers

in

Hin

di?

T

he l

ing

uis

tic p

uzz

le n

eve

r q

uite o

bst

ructs

th

e d

eva

statin

g d

ram

a o

f w

ar

vio

len

ce

co

nsp

iracy

an

d b

etr

aya

l. P

len

ty o

f th

e c

red

it fo

r th

e t

on

al c

orr

ectn

ess

of th

e n

arr

ative

mu

st g

o t

o K

am

alje

et

Neg

i’s b

rilli

an

tly

un

ad

orn

ed

cin

em

ato

gra

ph

y, w

hic

h l

ocks

in o

n s

tun

nin

g v

isu

als

of

vio

len

ce a

nd

esp

ion

ag

e-r

ela

ted

actio

n.

Sircar’s

ed

ito

r C

hand

rash

ekhar

Pra

jap

ati im

bues

a d

ocum

enta

ry s

tyle

mo

od

to

the

foo

tag

e. B

ut th

e s

en

se o

f cin

em

atic e

xp

an

sive

ness

is reta

ined

in th

e w

ay

the c

am

era

m

ove

s th

rou

gh

th

e c

hara

cte

rs’

rest

less

liv

es,

searc

hin

g f

or

po

sitio

ns

of

co

mfo

rt in

a

situ

atio

n la

den

with

desp

era

te a

nxie

ty.

Th

ere

’s a

wh

ole

lo

t o

f st

ifled

dra

ma i

n M

ad

ras

Cafe

. W

hen

a k

ey

ch

ara

cte

r d

ies

in t

he s

eco

nd

-half, th

e t

rag

ed

y is

han

dle

d w

ith

ou

t fu

ss. Jo

hn

’s t

igh

t-lip

ped

perf

orm

-an

ce g

ives

the fi

lm a

sen

se o

f tr

ag

ic g

ran

deu

r. W

e c

on

stan

tly

feel w

e a

re in

a t

err

ito

ry

where

dra

ma h

as

no

pla

ce. T

he s

ound

track is

excep

tio

nally

ho

nest

. Shanta

nu M

oitra

’s

backg

rou

nd

mu

sic u

nd

ers

co

res

eve

ry s

cen

e w

ith

ou

t h

am

merin

g in

th

e e

mo

tio

ns.

Mad

ras

Caf

e is

a d

ark

deep

an

d s

atisf

yin

g fi

lm a

bo

ut

the p

olit

ics

of

sep

ara

tism

. T

he fi

lm d

oesn

’t t

ake s

ides.

If

it is

ag

ain

st a

nyt

hin

g,

it is

the c

ultu

re o

f vi

ole

nce t

hat

natio

ns

oft

en feed

into

neig

hb

ouring

co

untr

ies

for

their o

wn g

ain

s. T

his

film

op

ens

up

th

e h

ith

ert

o u

nexp

lore

d g

en

re o

f p

olit

ical d

ram

a in

Bo

llyw

oo

d.

Aft

er

Vic

ky

Do

no

r, w

e k

no

w S

ircar

is c

om

fort

ab

le e

xp

lorin

g in

no

vative

cin

em

atic

terr

ito

ry. H

ere

, he tells

an e

dg

y d

istu

rbin

g p

rovo

cative

but ra

tio

nal a

nd

fair-

min

ded

sto

ry

that

takes

main

stre

am

Bo

lyw

oo

d c

inem

a k

ickin

g a

nd

scre

am

ing

into

a n

ew

ho

rizo

n.

Th

is i

s cin

em

a s

ign

ifyi

ng

a c

om

ing

-of-

ag

e w

ith

un

forg

ett

ab

le v

isu

als

an

d d

ram

a

and

a ro

usi

ng

matu

re c

are

er-

definin

g p

erf

orm

ance b

y its

lead

ing

man. T

his

is a

rguab

ly

the b

est

po

litic

al t

hrille

r th

at

Bo

llyw

oo

d h

as

so f

ar

giv

en

us.

IAN

S

Cha

rlie

Hun

nam

and

R

inko

Kik

uchi

in

Pac

ific

Rim

Julie

Del

py a

nd E

than

Haw

ke

in B

efor

e M

idni

ght.

EIG

HT

EIG

HT

less

ons

from

su

mm

er m

ovie

s

Desp

icab

le M

e 2

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013 GAME CONSOLES610

© GRAPHIC NEWS

PriceRelease

dateCPUGPU

MediaMemoryStorageInternet

BluetoothPorts

ControlSecondscreen

Backwardscompatible

Power

Sensor BarPS4 Eye†

$399/€399

Nov 15 (North America),Nov 29 (Europe)

8-core AMD Jaguar

AMD Radeon (1,152 shaders)

Blu-ray/DVD

8GB RAM

500GB HD + cloud

Ethernet, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 2.1

USB 3.0, HDMI

DualShock 4, Eye†, Move‡

PS Vita handheld, tablets andsmartphones running PS4 app

Selected PS3 titles usingGaikai cloud gaming network

Internal power supply

$499/€499

End 2013 (eight countriesdelayed until 2014)*

8-core AMD Jaguar

AMD Radeon (768 shaders)

Blu-ray/DVD

8GB RAM

500GB HD + cloud

Ethernet, Wi-Fi

No

USB 3.0, HDMI

Wireless controller, Kinetic 2

SmartGlass app for tablets andsmartphones

No (rumoured to be workingon XBox 360 title compatibility)

External power brick*2014 launch: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland†Sold separately for $59/€59 ‡Sold separately for $29/€29 Sources: Edge magazine, wire agenciesPictures: Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Studios

Killzone:ShadowFall(PS4exclusive)

Fable Legends(XBox Oneexclusive)

����������� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�������� �"�

it to eight European countries this year as previously stated

11BOOKS PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

By Christopher Palmeri

“Walt’s dream is a night-mare.” “Crowds gripe over long waiting lines.”

“Opening day was a confused mess.” These were the first newspaper reviews of Disneyland, the California theme park that debuted one scorching day in July 1955.

As a junior publicist hired a month earlier, Marty Sklar had an inside view of the event which included women’s heels stuck in the hot asphalt, not enough water fountains due to a plumber’s strike and attendance dou-ble what was planned because of ticket counterfeiting.

He remembers “Davy Crockett” star Fess Parker, mounted on his steed, pleading, “Marty, help me get out of here before this horse kills somebody.” Sklar escorted them both backstage.

Disney’s PR staff turned things around by inviting the press to come back at night, when the park wasn’t so crowded.

Sklar went on to become president of the Walt Disney Co’s Imagineering unit, which designs the company’s parks and hotels. Author of a new memoir, Dream

It! Do It!, Sklar described the company’s early days and why the world’s largest licensor may never lend its name to a car.

What was it like to work with Walt?

He was not the kind of person who would pat you on the back and say “Great idea.” He just expected it. Dick Irvine (a design executive) was a mas-ter at getting something in position, something Walt could build on. Walt loved plus-ing other people’s ideas. That was exciting to be around.

What were meetings like?I remember we had an idea for

an electronic shooting gallery set in outer space. We spent an hour describing it and the characters. Walt didn’t say a word. Finally, he got up and said, “Is that all they do?” We all understood the signal. It never was a game.

Another idea that didn’t work was a Disney car.

We found that teenage boys had no interest in riding in a Disney car. No one wanted to hear that a kid was

killed or injured in an accident. It was something you don’t want to have to deal with.

Disney has taken a lot of chances,

though.We learned by doing. We tried a lot

of things at Disneyland that didn’t work. The things that worked became traditions. The biggest thing about Walt Disney was that he did not do sequels. He did not want to follow himself.

In the early days Disney cre-ated original park attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Today a new ride is much more likely to be linked to movie content.

When you can attach great stories to an attraction, why not? Having great Pixar stories to use, or other Disney films, it’s really quite an advantage. Cars Land, what a fabu-lous addition. I love going there at night, all those neon signs. And the ride itself is one of the best we’ve done.

One of the things that comes out in your book is that some countries want their park to reflect the local culture and some don’t.

The Japanese said: “Don’t Japanize us. We came to you for Disney. We came to you for America.” Tokyo Disneyland didn’t even have a Japanese restaurant when it opened.

The French said, “We have the greatest culture in the world.” You get different attitudes in different places. All of Walt’s stories were out of Europe. Snow White was German; Mary Poppins, English. In Shanghai they’re paying a lot more attention to the Chinese culture.

Your career has taken some turns. You started out as a publi-cist and ended up running a group that included engineers, designers and MBAs.

Too many MBAs. I tell young people: Learn as much as you can, about as much as you can, when you’re young. That’s the time to find out what you really want to do. If you’re not having fun in the fun business, find something else to do. WP-Bloomberg

Dream It!: Recalling the bumpy beginning to the Disney empire

TECHNOLOGYPLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 201312

Vodafone has introduced a winner pack-age with its Smart Mini plus data pack combo deal. The international telecom giant’s entry-level smartphone comes with a 15 GB data pack free for a month

for postpaid customers and 1GB of data free for pre-paid customers if they buy the QR299 phone before October 18.

The device is one of the best in its category and makes an excellent VoIP phone. Although there are similar phones in the market in the same price range, Smart Mini scores over most of them with the inclu-sion of Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

Samsung Galaxy Pocket and Huawei Ascend Y210 match the Smart Mini in price but neither have the 1 GHz processor the Vodafone phone boasts of.

The Smart Mini will be an ideal entry phone for someone who is a tech newbie or someone on a tight budget looking for a smartphone that makes connecting with friends and family with the help of VoIP apps like Viber, Mobile VoIP, Line etc very easy.

On the other hand, those into gaming won’t really enjoy the 3.5” HVGA TFT TN screen as it is not as responsive to multitouch gestures as high-end smartphones.

Out of the 4 GB built in memory, 2.2 GB is user-accessible, which should be enough to download most basic apps. There is an option to upgrade the memory by up to 32 GB through a Micro SD card, and this should be enough to enjoy multimedia files of popular formats.

Built-in GPS and A-GPS let you know exactly where you are using Google Maps or any other third party tracking app of one’s choice. It also ensures one’s photos are geotagged.

Smart Mini’s wireless connectivity arsenal includes

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, which fared pretty well during our testing, and Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP, which gives you the option to use wireless stereo headsets, but you would still need to use the included wired head-phones to utilise the built-in FM radio.

The 2MP camera can hold its own in this age of 10-plus megapixels lenses. The photos are pretty sharp in daylight and okay in low light, and offer a range of options like panorama shot, smile detector and more.

One concern of most smartphone users is battery life, and Smart Mini doesn’t disappoint. It chugged on for more than a day even as we were busy squeezing out the juice by testing its features day and night.

Vodafone’s Smart Mini is 115 x 62.3 x 12.2 mm in dimension, which is similar to an iPhone 4S, and looks clean and uncomplicated with the start and volume buttons neatly incorporated into the phone body. The build quality may not be the best you have

seen but is not less than anything else in its category. The bar form factor gives the device quite a sturdy feel, while the 3.5-inch screen makes it using with one hand very convenient. Add to that voice com-mands and its literary hands-free.

The Smart Mini is very simple to set up out of the box, but you need to sign in using your Google ID to use it to its full potential. The Peninsula

Vodafone has launched its entry-level smartphone Smart Mini in Doha. Qassim Rahmatullah puts its through the paces to find out how it fares.

Smart Mini is a value deal

Dimensions: 115 x 62.3 x 12.2 mmWeight: 117g

Colors: Black, White, PinkScreen: 3.5” HVGA TFT TN

Camera: 2 MP camera Fixed FocusPlatform (OS): Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Chipset: MTK 6575M, 1GHz Cortex-A9 MCUMemory: 512 MB RAM

4GB total internal flash ROMBattery Capacity: 1400 mAh

Networks: GSM / EDGE / HSPAFeatures: Wifi 802.11b/g/n, A-GPS, BT4.0 A2DP

Video: H.263, H.264, MPEG4Audio: AAC, AAC+, MP3, Midi

Asphalt 8 Airborne (£0.69)Gameloft’s street racing games

were popular on mobile phones long before Android even existed. The eighth incarnation offers more cars — 47 in total — nine locations to race them in, and a new emphasis on ramps, rolls and stunts (hence the “Airborne” aspect). Online multiplayer races for up to eight players at once add to the fun.

Dots A Game About Connecting (Free)

Dots might just be the most addic-tive Android game yet, thriving on the simplicity of connecting same-coloured dots on a grid in 60-second rounds. Twitter and Facebook are plumbed in to compare your scores to friends, and there is also an untimed mode for practice. In-app purchases of power-ups fund the action.

Timely Alarm Clock (Free)Clock apps are ten-a-penny on the

Google Play store, but there’s some-thing special about Timely. It’s sim-ple and elegant to use, with dragging and swiping controls used to set your alarm, gestures to control the snooze function, and a tablet-optimised design. It’s free but shows ads after five days if you choose not to upgrade via in-app purchase.

Mr Shingu’s Paper Zoo (£0.99)Aimed at children, this is a

delightful combination of origami and virtual pets. Kids have to popu-late a zoo with colourful animals by folding them (virtually) together fol-lowing on-screen prompts, then keep the menagerie occupied with items. Rather than in-app purchases, the app uses a virtual currency earned by playing to fund your child’s zoo expansion.

Minuum Keyboard (£2.48)Pitched as “the little keyboard for

big fingers”, Minuum is a clever idea that shrinks the size of your on-screen keyboard, while using auto-correct to detect what you’re typing on the reduced number of keys. The company behind it is hoping to expand (so to speak) onto smart-watches and other

wearable devices in the future, so this is an early look at how its technology is shaping up.

Dragons of Atlantis Heirs (Free)Social games publisher Kabam had

a big hit on Facebook with its Dragons of Atlantis game, which has more than 15m players. This mobile spin-off is separate — existing players will have to start all over again on their phones — but sees a similar mixture of city-building and dragon-raising.

Nook Video (Free)Only available in the US, this is

the film and TV service from Barnes & Noble’s Nook brand, now available for Android devices beyond its own Nook tablets. It’s a store rather than a subscription service, with shows and movies available to stream or download.

By Stuart DredgeThe Guardian

Android apps of the day

COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaAugust 25, 1989

1967: A new constitution came into effect in Paraguay, now celebrated each year by a public holiday1973: The first scan was made using CAT (Computer Axial Tomography)1975: Talks between Rhodesia’s white minority government and black leaders opened in railway carriages near Victoria Falls2006: Fire destroyed the vast main dome of the Trinity Cathedral in the Russian city of St Petersburg

After travelling for 12 years and 4.5 billion kilometres, the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew over the cloud tops of the giant planet Neptune and its moon Triton

Picture: Associated Press © GRAPHIC NEWS

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

ACTION, ACTOR, AUDIENCE, AUDITION, BACKSTAGE, BOX OFFICE, CABARET, CAMERA, CAST, COMEDY, COSTUME, CURTAIN CALL, DIRECTOR, DRAMA, ENCORE, ENTERTAINMENT, EXTRA, FILM, FOOTLIGHTS, GREASEPAINT, HOLLYWOOD, LIGHTING, LINES, LOCATION, MOVIE, MUSICAL, PERFORMANCE, PLAY, PRODUCER, PROMOTER, PROP, RADIO, REVIEW, ROLE, SCENE, SCORE, SCRIPT, SPOTLIGHT, STAGE, STAND IN, STAR, STUNT.

Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun

Hagar The Horrible by Chris Browne

Learn Arabic lessons will resume from

September 1, 2013

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

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 Rand McNally

publication

6 Where a fetus develops

10 What says

“Miss America” on Miss America

14 “Grand” instrument

15 Samoan capital

16 Duo + one

17 Cent

18 Casual pants

20 Ocean bottoms

22 Depart

23 Fishing line holder

24 Names like Billy the Kid

26 Vehicle with a compactor

30 Ingredient in a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder

31 Recreational walk

32 Traffic problem

35 Unsuave sort

36 Unrefined oil

38 Conceal

39 Items checked by T.S.A. agents

40 Rugmaking apparatus

41 Target, as with a gun

42 Where one might witness a hit and run?

45 Opposite of rejects

48 Winnie-the-___

49 Find, as a missing person

50 Atomic bomb unit

53 Fishing gear holder

56 Stop, as a stream

58 “What ___ be done?”

59 Made a rug, e.g.

60 Pig sounds

61 Spot for a goatee

62 Spots for glasses

63 Skedaddles … or what 18-, 26-, 42- and 53-Across all have

DOWN 1 Online store offering

2 Knots

3 Roadway division

4 University of Michigan’s home

5 Small source of protein

6 Walk like a duck

7 Magnum ___

8 Fraction of an hr.

9 Valise

10 What a meteor looks like in the sky

11 Zones

12 One working out the lumps?

13 Garden watering aids

19 Wonderland girl

21 Neural activity measure, for short

24 Desertlike

25 Book between Mark and John

26 Asian desert

27 “And giving ___, up the chimney he rose”

28 Spanish waterways

29 Hitchhiker’s digit

32 Iwo ___

33 Eve’s mate

34 Ration (out)

36 Price

37 Masses of fish eggs

38 Leave lickety-split

40 Place to pin a tiny flag

41 Numerous

42 Summon

43 Peaks

44 Item resting on andirons

45 Room just under a roof

46 Stock market disaster

47 Desert plants

50 Transport

51 Prefix with directional

52 Zap

54 Ram’s mate

55 The “B” of

B.S.A.

57 Letter add-ons, for short

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

I C A N N O T T E L L A L I EM O N E Y F O R N O T H I N GP R I V A T E E N T R A N C EA R M E D S M U T S E L SL E A R W H O I S S O O TA C T D I O R S S C U S ES T E A R N E S S E A T E D

R I D S P O E MT B O N E S H A N D S A W SA R I E S C A R D S L A HP E L L C O M T E A B R II N B R A L L Y E N U R EO N E C E L L E D A N I M A LC A L C U L A T I N G M I N DA N T I P E R S P I R A N T S

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.

CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

06:30 Mares vs

Gonzalea

07:30 Cycling - La

Vuelta

09:45 Omni Sport

12:00 Hellas Verona vs

Milan

13:45 Omni Sport

14:15 Valenciennes vs

Marseille

16:30 UEFA

Champions

League

Magazine

17:00 Cycling - La

Vuelta

19:00 Inter vs Genoa

21:00 Football Asia

21:30 Malaga vs

Barcelona

00:30 Moto Gp -

Czech Republic

01:45 Napoli vs

Bologna

03:30 Tulsa vs Los

Angeles

08:00 News

09:00 The French-

African

Connection

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Syria

11:00 News

12:30 The Cure

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Syria

15:00 Al Jazeera

World

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 Listening Post

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 101 East

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

23:00 Empire

13:45 Investigation

Earth With Jeff

Corwin

15:35 Bondi Vet

16:30 Talk To The

Animals

18:20 Call Of The

Wildman

20:10 In Search Of

The King Cobra

21:05 Charles & Jessica

: A Chimp Tale

22:00 The Animals’

Guide To

Survival

13:00 Hope & Faith

13:30 Brothers

14:00 Ben And Kate

14:30 Community

16:30 War At Home

18:00 Guys With

Kids

18:30 Mindy Project

20:00 Parks And

Recreation

21:00 Daily Show

21:30 Colbert Report

22:00 Saturday Night

13:00 Dog With A Blog

13:50 That’s So Raven

16:35 A.N.T Farm

17:00 Shake It Up

18:30 A.N.T Farm

20:30 Jessie

20:50 Shake It Up

21:15 That’s So Raven

21:40 Good Luck

Charlie

22:00 Shake It Up

22:25 A.N.T Farm

14:00 A Kiss For Jed

Wood

16:00 Adventures In

Babysitting

18:00 Jack And Jill

20:00 The Hangover 2

22:00 A Very Harold

And Kumar

Christmas

13:00 How Tech

Works

13:50 Mean Green

Machines

14:45 The Tech Show

16:00 Mighty Ships

17:20 Junk Men

17:45 The Science Of

Star Wars

18:35 Nextworld

19:30 Extreme Bodies

21:35 The Tech Show

22:00 Curiosity

22:50 Through The

Wormhole

13:00 Ellen DeGeneres

Show

14:00 Franklin & Bash

15:00 24

16:00 Emmerdale

16:30 Coronation

Street

18:00 Franklin & Bash

19:00 Psych

21:00 C.S.I.

22:00 Defiance

23:00 Banshee

13:25 Antiques

Roadshow

17:00 Extreme

Makeover:

Home Edition

19:00 Masterchef:

Professionals

20:30 Come Dine

With Me:

Supersized

22:00 Antiques

Roadshow

14:00 Neverland

17:00 Interview With A

Hitman

19:00 Drew Peterson:

Untouchable

21:00 A Dangerous

Method

23:00 Liars All

QF RADIO 91.7 FM ENGLISH PROGRAMME BRIEF

LIVE SHOWS Airing Time Programme Briefs

SPIRITUAL HOUR

6:00 - 7:00 AM A time of reflection, a deeper understanding of the teachings of Islam.

TOUR IN QATAR

9:00 AM The show takes you on a trip to different locations in Qatar.

THINK ABOUT IT

10:30 AM Think about it a program put together by our very own Nabil Al Nashar. The show introduces our listeners to a new poem every week written in the style of Spoken Word. Spoken Word is a modern style of poetry that finds its inspiration suspended between Rap and the Classics. Enjoy the awesome power of words and music as he brings you the best of both worlds.

FASHION NEWS

12:00 Noon Laura brings you a tidy package of the latest news and events from the world of fashion!

INTERNATIO-NAL NEWS

1:00 PM The latest news and events from around the world.

DECADES 6:00 PM A journey through time. The show reminisces at the music, the inventions, and the events that ensued during that era and defined modern history. Hosted by Ms. Laura Finnerty and Scotty Boyes.

LEGENDARY ARTISTS

8:00 PM The show tells the story of a celebrity artist that has reached unprecedented fame. Throughout the episode, the artists’ memorable performances/songs will be played to put listeners in the mood.

MALL

1

Despicable Me 2 (3D/Animation) – 3.00pm

The Smurfs 2 (3D/Animation) – 5.00pm

Jobs (2D/Drama) – 7.00, 9.15 & 11.30pm

2

Grown Ups (2D/Comedy) – 2.30pm

Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty (2D/Malayalam) – 5.00 & 11.15pm

R.I.P.D (3D/Comedy) – 7.30 & 9.30pm

3

The Mortal Instruments (2D/Action) – 2.30 & 5.00pm

The Conjuring (2D/Horror) – 7.15 & 9.30pm

Grown Ups (2D/Comedy) – 11.30pm

LANDMARK

1

Grown Ups (2D/Comedy) – 2.30pm

Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty (2D/Malayalam) – 5.00 & 11.15pm

R.I.P.D (3D/Comedy) – 7.30 & 9.30pm

2

Despicable Me 2 (3D/Animation) – 3.00pm

The Smurfs 2 (3D/Animation) – 5.00 & 7.00pm

Jobs (2D/Drama) – 9.00 & 11.15pm

3

The Mortal Instruments (2D/Action) – 2.30 & 5.00pm

The Conjuring (2D/Horror) – 7.15 & 9.30pm

Grown Ups (2D/Comedy) – 11.30pm

ROYAL

PLAZA

1

Despicable Me 2 (3D/Animation) – 3.00pm

The Smurfs 2 (3D/Animation) – 5.00pm

Jobs (2D/Drama) – 7.00, 9.15 & 11.30pm

2

Madras Cafe (2D/Hindi) – 2.30 & 8.00pm

Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty (2D/Malayalam) – 5.00 & 11.00pm

3

The Mortal Instruments (2D/Action) – 2.30 & 5.00pm

The Conjuring (2D/Horror) – 7.15pm

R.I.P.D (3D/Comedy) – 9.30pm

Grown Ups (2D/Comedy) – 11.30pm

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013

PLUS | SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2013 POTPOURRI16

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

If you want your events featured here, mail details to plus@pen.com.qa

From Qurtuba To CordobaWhen: Until August 31, 10am-10pm Where: Katara Gallery 1 - Bldg 13

What: This exhibition displays a variety of ornamental details — testimony to past splendour — often taken for granted by Cordoba’s dwellers and visitors. The collection highlights emblematic monuments, walls, doors, towers, minarets and baths, including some examples of Mudéjar art, a more recent architectural style inspired by the influences of Al Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula. Free entry

Omar Khalifa – “Infinite”When: Until Dec 15; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Cultural Village What: This outdoor photography installation examines ‘the nature of being’. Using digital multiple exposure techniques, an image is crafted that gives us a sense of other-worldliness and depth of perspective through the human form. Free Entry

Qatar National Library Heritage Collection When: Public tours on Sundays and Tuesdays from 10am until 11.30am. Where: Qatar National Library’s Heritage Collection What: Qatar National Library’s remarkable Heritage Collection is a rare trove of manuscripts, books, and artefacts documenting a wealth of Arab-Islamic civilization and human thought. Among its more than thousands of works, the collection contains an edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia, which was printed in Rome in 1478 and is the oldest printed map showing the name of Qatar or referred to in Latin as ‘Catara’. Free Entry

The ThievesWhen: August 25-26, 7pm Where: Drama Theater, Building 16

What: A band of five infamous Korean thieves headed by Popie (Lee Jung-Jae) receives an irresistible offer from former partner Macau Park, to steal a $20m diamond known as ‘Tear of the Sun’ from a casino. The team travels to Hong Kong where Park brought along four other Chines thieves to complete the job. On the day of the heist, the professionals who left nothing to chance find their perfect plan quickly turn into disaster revealing that they all have their own agenda. But who will succeed and walk away with the priceless diamond? Directed by Choi Dong hoon, this star-studded heist movie is one of the top grossing Korean films of all time See dohafilminstitute.com for more information on tickets

Events in Qatar

IN FOCUS

A view of Fanar Mosque.

by Muhsin Majeed Parambath

Send your photos to plus@pen.com.qa. Mention where the photo was taken.

MEDIA SCAN A summary ofissues of the daydiscussed by the Qatari communityin the media.

Ohio man back to life 45 minutes after heart stops

A man who was declared dead when his heart stopped beat-ing for 45 minutes suddenly

revived, said his stunned doctors, who can’t find an explanation. The man, though, credits his faith.

The presumed-dead diesel mechanic, Tony Yahle, was being prepared by nurses to be seen by his family when he began to show signs of life, the doctors said. He fully awoke at the hospital five days later, they said.

Yahle, a 37-year-old West Carrollton resident, has been a topic of conversation since, said his cardi-ologist, Dr Raja Nazir.

“In the last 20 years, I’ve never seen anybody who we have pro-nounced dead ... and then for him to come back, I’ve never seen it,” Nazir told the Dayton Daily News. “Actually, I’ve never heard of it.”

Yahle said at Christ’s Church in Bellbrook that a “miracle happened” when he revived. He said doctors couldn’t find any defects in his heart. He said his doctors’ last guess was that it was all the result of a possible viral infection.

AP

• People are demanding that the authorities earmark additional areas for car parking near Souq Waqif as many visitors to the souqs are spending a long time looking for parking space.

• There is a suggestion to replace all advertisement boards with electronic bulletin boards to display the message clearly. Many of the advertisement boards cannot weather changes in the climate.

• Some real estate experts have demanded that the government intervene to stop the increase in prices of land and construction materials, and also grant land to citizens to control increasing rents.

• A number of visitors to the Umm Salal health centre are demanding that the authorities speed up opening of a new health centre because people are suffering every day as the old building

lacks enough space to accommodate the increasing number of patients.

• Some people with special needs have complained of lack of parking spaces at some bank branches that have opened recently in different areas. All institutions providing services to the public should take this section of society into account and reserve parking spaces for them.

• Some of the eateries need to be monitored by the consumer protection department as many of the workers are not using gloves and following other health rules.

• Many people are complaining about pollution at the Abu Nakhla swamp, where sewage water is pumped out. Migratory birds camp there, and many bird hunters shoot the birds and leave the carcasses in the swamp, which is increasing pollution in the area.