Missing Picassos

CommunityInternational Nepali Literature Society and

Nabodit Literature Library organises event to remember Bhanubhakta Acharya

P7 P16 CommunityDoha-based entrepreneur M S Bukhari

recalls father through a posthumous book containing research articles written by him.

Missing PicassosCOVERSTORY

They went missing from LA Times. What happened to them? P4-6

Tuesday, July 17, 2018Dhul-Qa’da 4, 1439 AH

Doha today: 360 - 450

POP SPOT SHOWBIZ

Bad Bunny makes good

on success.

Page 14

Black superheroes are

breaking barriers.

Page 15

SPOTLIGHT: Five Pablo Picasso lithographs from his Imaginary Portraits series hung in the Los Angeles Times community room in 2014. Four years later, they were gone.

Tuesday, July 17, 20182 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITY ROUND & ABOUT

Community EditorKamran Rehmat

e-mail: [email protected]: 44466405

Fax: 44350474

Emergency 999Worldwide Emergency Number 112Kahramaa – Electricity and Water 991Local Directory 180International Calls Enquires 150Hamad International Airport 40106666Labor Department 44508111, 44406537Mowasalat Taxi 44588888Qatar Airways 44496000Hamad Medical Corporation 44392222, 44393333Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation 44845555, 44845464Primary Health Care Corporation 44593333 44593363 Qatar Assistive Technology Centre 44594050Qatar News Agency 44450205 44450333Q-Post – General Postal Corporation 44464444

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

USEFUL NUMBERS

Quote Unquote

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing

your best today.”— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

PRAYER TIMEFajr 3.26amShorooq (sunrise) 4.53amZuhr (noon) 11.40amAsr (afternoon) 3.05pmMaghreb (sunset) 6.28pmIsha (night) 7.58pm

The LullabyDIRECTION: Jaume BalagueróCAST: Reine Swart, Brandon Auret,

Thandi PurenSYNOPSIS: Chloe is overwhelmed

by the birth of her fi rst child. The incessant crying of her baby, the growing sense of guilt and paranoia sends her into depression. With a heightened urge to protect her son,

Chloe sees danger in every situation. In her paranoia, she begins to hear voices and comes to believe that a strange entity is haunting her child.

THEATRES: Landmark, Royal Plaza

Hotel Transylvania: 3 Summer Vacation DIRECTION: Genndy TartakovskyCAST: Mel Brooks, Adam Sandler, Selena GomezSYNOPSIS: While on a vacation with his family, Count

Dracula makes a romantic connection. In Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, join the favourite monster family as they embark on a vacation on a luxury monster cruise ship so Drac can take a summer vacation. It’s smooth sailing for Drac’s Pack as the monsters

indulge in all of the shipboard fun the cruise has to off er, from monster volleyball to exotic excursions, and catching up on their moon tans. But the dream vacation turns into a nightmare when Mavis realises Drac has fallen for the mysterious captain of the ship, Ericka, who hides a dangerous secret that could destroy all of monster kind.

THEATRES: Landmark, The Mall, Royal Plaza

The Mall Cinema (1): Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 2pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 3:45pm; The Incredibles 2 (2D) 5:30pm; The Little Witch (2D) 7:30pm; Ant-Man And The Wasp (2D) 9:30pm; Kadaikutty Singam (Tamil) 11:30pm.The Mall Cinema (2): Kadaikutty Singam (Tamil) 2:15pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 5pm; Skyscraper (2D) 7pm; Skyscraper (2D) 9pm; Skyscraper (2D) 11pm.The Mall Cinema (3): Soorma (Hindi) 2pm; My Story (Malayalam) 4:30pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 7pm; Soorma (Hindi) 9pm; The Extraordinary Journey Of Fakir (2D) 11:30pm.

Landmark Cinema (1): My Story (Malayalam) 2:30pm; The Extraordinary Journey Of Fakir (2D) 5pm; Kadaikutty Singam (Tamil) 6:45pm; Muse (2D) 9:30pm; My Story (Malayalam) 11:30pm.Landmark Cinema (2): Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 2:15pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 4pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 5:45pm; Skyscraper (2D) 7:15pm; Skyscraper (2D) 9:30pm; Skyscraper (2D) 11:15pm.Landmark Cinema (3): Soorma (Hindi) 2:30pm; Lullaby (2D) 5pm; The Incredibles 2 (2D) 6:45pm;

Soorma (Hindi) 9pm; Kadaikutty Singam (Tamil) 11:30pm.Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (1): Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 3pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 5pm; Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 7pm; Skyscraper (2D) 9pm; Skyscraper (2D) 11pm.Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (2): Tamizh Padam 2 (Tamil) 2pm; My Story (Malayalam) 4:30pm; Soorma (Hindi) 7pm; Lullaby (2D) 9:30pm; Soorma (Hindi) 11:15pm.Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (3): Soorma (Hindi) 2:30pm; The Incredibles 2 (2D) 5pm; Skyscraper (2D) 7:15pm; Ant-Man And The Wasp (2D) 9:15pm; Tamizh Padam 2 (Tamil) 11:30pm.

3Tuesday, July 17, 2018 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYROUND & ABOUT

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

EVENTS

Dates FestivalWHERE: Souq WaqifWHEN: July 19 – August 4TIME: 4pm – 10pmThe Ministry of Municipality and

Environment (MME) agriculture section will organise the third edition of the local dates festival at Souq Waqif to coincide with the dates production season in the country. The upcoming festival will display all types of Qatari dates and the participating farms will display their produce for sale throughout the event.

Summer CampWHERE: Olive International School, Al

ThummamaWHEN: Ongoing till July 31Olive International School, Al

Thummama is offering an exciting fun filled summer camp for its students to make this summer break a wonderful experience through adventurous and healthy activities such as the art of Public Speaking, Arts and Craft to trace and build artistic skills, Yoga for a healthy mind and body, Little Chef, Music and games like Table Tennis.

Minipolis Summer Camp WHERE: The Pearl, QatarWHEN: Ongoing till August 31TIME: 9am – 5pmAn Edutainment Entertainment

summer camp is now in Qatar where kids can enjoy their time by discovering the world of Mad Science, and spend a good

sharing time in making new friends while baking, enjoying their meals, watching cinema, doing aerobics and so much more.

IAID Summer WorkshopWHERE: IAIDWHEN: July – AugustIt’s time to set your kids summer

activities today with IAID, the pioneer in conducting workshops in Qatar since 2001. IAID’s Summer Workshop features fun and exciting activities. It only means more singing, playing and dancing for the sweet little ones aged 3 years and above.

Summer ActivityWHERE: Aspire ZoneWHEN: Ongoing till August 15TIME: 8am – 2pmChildren can enjoy various activities

such as football, taekwondo, swimming, gymnastics, aerobics, and recreational games.

Desert Rose ExhibitionWHERE: Katara Art Studio B19WHEN: Ongoing till July 25TIME: 10am – 10pmThe exhibition features the nature and

architecture of Qatar, continues till July 25. The exhibition includes 34 pictures as a selection of the works of the British photographer who took tens of thousands of photos during his five years in Qatar as a filmmaker and photographer. He captured the country’s land and sea, and highlighted the beauty of its impressive architecture and its unique museums.

Choreography Lessons - Brazilian Zouk

WHERE: Music and Arts Atelier near MOI

WHEN: Ongoing till September 15Brazilian zouk is characterised by the

dancers’ undulating bodies and the girls’ flowing hair. Dancer or not, depending on the style of Brazilian zouk, you’ll be able to choose connection and embrace with long graceful steps. The final performance is scheduled to be on 15 September as a flashmob.

Special Needs Summer CampWHERE: HOPE Qatar Center for Special

NeedsWHEN: Ongoing till August 15TIME: 8:30am – 12:30pmHOPE Qatar Center for Special Needs

is organising a very unique summer camp bringing together children with and without special needs in a fun and entertainment filled programme from July 16 – August 15. This camp led by a multinational team will enhance empathy, teamwork, and friendships between the differently abled children and other children aged 4 – 18. The camp will run for 5 days a week from 8:30am – 12:30pm for one month and include various edutainment activities. For details, call 55751754 / 55385687

Summer Camp WHERE: Music LoungeWHEN: Ongoing till August 30TIME: 9am – 12pmThis summer camp is designed to give

every camper a skill to create music through special training in musical instruments piano, guitar and drums, to visualise child’s limitless imagination and bring it to creative visuals through art and craft. This camp will develop their communication skills through training in public speaking along with hip hop dance, warm up exercises, karate and yoga.

Summer CampsWHERE: Mamangam Performing Art

Centre, Al HilalWHEN: Ongoing till August 31TIME: 8am – 12:30pmMamangam Performing Art Centre

will be holding Summer Camps in its Al Hilal branch for two batches of age groups from 4 -18 yrs. The summer camps will include Yoga, Karate, Art and Craft, Music, Hip-hop, Bollywood, Indian Classical and Contemporary dance. For details, call 33897609.

Summer CampsWHERE: TCAWHEN: Ongoing TIME: 8:30am – 1pmThe TCA is holding Summer Camps in its

branch for all students, ongoing from June 24. Every two weeks, a new batch will begin

for every child to join and learn new forms of art. The summer camps will include Abacus, Drawing and Painting, Calligraphy, keyboard and dance. The camp will run for 7 days a week from 8:30am – 1pm. You will be able to see the activities and schedules that will be held for every week and register your kid. For details, call 44373259.

Summer Camp for Kids WHERE: Music and Arts Atelier, Villa 57

Bin Omran WHEN: Ongoing till August 31 TIME: 7:30am – 2:30pm Doha’s Kids Summer Camp where artists

are made! The A to Z of kid’s summer camp – from artworks, dance and music lessons and PLAY in between. For ages 5 years and up. Contact [email protected] and mobile 33003839.

Summer Entertainment City 2018WHERE: DECCWHEN: Ongoing till August 31TIME: 12pmAn amazing range of local shopping

stalls will feature products from all over the world on the Eid. The Summer Shopping Souq has started from June 14 till August 31. Colour your summer at Doha Exhibition and Conventional Centre, West Bay during Summer Entertainment City 2018 with over 75 activities and games, more than 40 food and 132 retail outlets and amazing live performances. Get set for an exciting and eventful summer in 2018.

Outdoor and five-a-side football pitches

WHERE: Aspire ZoneWHEN: DailyTIME: 7pm – 11pmAspire Zone’s five-a-side football

outdoor pitches opposite Al Waab Street are available every day from 7pm – 11pm.

Arab and German Tales Exhibition WHERE: Qatar National LibraryWHEN: Ongoing till August 18The exhibition is organised within the

framework of Qatar–Germany Year of Culture and provides an insight into the history of Arabic and German fairy and folk tales, and how the two traditions influenced each other. It aims to show the transcultural value of narrative traditions as a shared intangible cultural heritage and highlight mutual influences, shared ideas and cultural transfer between the Arab world and Germany through storytelling and tales.


COMMUNITY COVER STORY

The Times, they are a changin’

For years, something remarkable resided in an otherwise

unremarkable space. It was art, five pieces framed as one, often hidden

behind a lowered projection screen. The artist was Pablo Picasso

By Daniel Miller

The downtown complex that has housed the Los Angeles Times for decades is fi lled with notable spaces: the

pristine test kitchen, the bustling newsroom and the historic Globe Lobby with its 10-foot-high murals, busts of past publishers and hulking linotype machine.

Then there’s the community room, a drab, workaday gathering spot for employees and visitors that inspires few selfi es. But for years, something remarkable resided in this otherwise unremarkable space, largely unseen.

It was art, fi ve pieces framed as one, often hidden behind a lowered projection screen.

The artist was Pablo Picasso.The fi ve lithographs were

abstract depictions of famous literary fi gures, including Shakespeare, done in vibrant brushstrokes.

They were among the last vestiges of a 110-piece art collection assembled in the late 1960s and early ’70s by the newspaper’s parent company, Times Mirror Co.

Dr Franklin Murphy, the former UCLA chancellor who became Times Mirror’s chief executive in 1968, built the collection with Otis Chandler, who served as Times publisher from 1960 to 1980 and whose family owned the newspaper and its parent.

Works by 20th-century artists Picasso, Rufi no Tamayo, Helen Frankenthaler, Milton Avery, Richard Diebenkorn, Isamu Noguchi, Ellsworth Kelly, Saul Steinberg, Claes Oldenburg and many others were put on display in 1973 with the opening of the Times Mirror Building, which adjoined the existing newspaper headquarters.

The artwork was a physical manifestation of the company’s immense power and momentum in those halcyon days, said author Margaret Leslie Davis.

“It was this ethos that Los Angeles had arrived. (They) are not buying Old Masters — this isn’t for the socialites, this isn’t for the ladies page. This is modern and bold, refl ective of the new Los Angeles,” said Davis, whose book about Murphy, The Culture Broker, details the creation of the art collection. “This was really radical. It showed tremendous taste — an informed sensibility of what was worth buying and presenting in

terms of the Times Mirror image to the world.”

Corporate dining rooms were named after artists — Picasso, Tamayo and Steinberg — whose works hung in them. The fi ve Picasso lithographs were from a 29-piece set of his artwork that had been on display.

“The Picasso Room was exclusive — you had to be an offi cer in the corporation, a high-up editor to go there,” said Roger Smith, who joined the newspaper in 1977, later became national editor and left in 2013. “I don’t think I got Picasso privileges until the 1990s. It was, ‘Oh wow, I’ve kind of arrived.’”

By the late 1990s, when fi nancial challenges grew and the Chandler family’s patience with newspapers began to wane, the dismantling began. Chicago-based Tribune Co. bought Times Mirror in 2000, and by 2012 most of the collection had been sold off .

But it lived on as newsroom folklore. Veteran staff ers told odd and possibly apocryphal tales about the art: that editors were given valuable pieces when they left the newspaper, that a former publisher had works depicting nude women taken down because they off ended his sensibilities.

Reporters had cause to revisit

this history earlier this year when then-incoming Times owner Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong announced plans to relocate the paper to El Segundo — a move spurred by the 2016 sale of the downtown property to a Canadian developer.

Some staff ers began to explore the historic property on nostalgia-laced, self-guided tours. And a visit was paid to the community room to see the Picasso lithographs, perhaps for a fi nal time. They seemed to be the last connection to that vaunted bygone era.

But there was a problem: They were gone.

The artwork had disappeared at some point between 2014 and 2018, a period of great tumult at The Times, as a series of publishers and top editors were shuffl ed in and out by then-owner Tribune Publishing, which renamed itself Tronc.

The hunt for Picasso was on.Starting in the late 1960s,

Murphy and Chandler sought out artwork that evoked LA’s “new sensibility,” Davis said.

Much of it was contemporary art, some of it created by artists who had deep ties to LA, like Diebenkorn. This, said Kimberli Meyer, the director of the University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach, refl ected the

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Five Pablo Picasso lithographs from his Imaginary Portraits series once hung in a corporate dining room at the downtown complex that houses the Los Angeles Times.

“The Picasso Room was exclusive — you had to be an officer in the corporation, a high-up editor to go there. I don’t think I got Picasso privileges until the 1990s. It was, ‘Oh wow, I’ve kind of arrived’”

— Roger Smith, ex-national

editor

‘

’


COMMUNITYCOVER STORY

thoughtfulness of the collection.“To make the choice to show

contemporary art by artists who are in California — it’s showing that there is a solid sense of good taste and forward thinking,” she said. “They could have just put up a bunch of photographs, something that was inward looking. The idea that they were thinking about art as an important part of understanding the world — that’s signifi cant.”

Although the paintings, prints and sculptures were put on display throughout Times Mirror Square, as the complex was then known, the Picasso Room got the most attention.

The executive dining room regularly hosted Times honchos and visiting dignitaries, and the sheer volume of the artwork was meant to inspire awe: Chandler and Murphy “wanted a stunning impact when visitors entered the room,” Davis wrote.

“This was a statement — that this was the centre of power in downtown Los Angeles,” she said.

Dining among the Picassos, Tamayos and Steinbergs was an unalloyed pleasure for many. And sometimes, these rooms were the site of surreal encounters.

George Cotliar, who joined the newspaper as a reporter in 1957, recalled a 1980s lunch with Tamayo himself in the Tamayo Room. There to view his works on the walls, the Mexican modernist had brought his wife, Olga Flores Rivas, and she did much of the talking as a small group of journalists lobbed questions at the artist.

“We asked him maybe 15 to 20 questions and she answered … sometimes rolling right over him,” said Cotliar, who then served as

managing editor and retired in 1997. “We almost never heard him speak.”

The artwork may have been a point of pride for many, but not everyone saw the value of having it on display.

Mark Willes, who was hired as chief executive of Times Mirror in 1995, had the Picassos and other artwork removed from the dining rooms and replaced with photography and other items that celebrated the work of Times journalists.

Several former and current reporters and editors repeated a widely told story about the decision: that Willes had the artwork removed because at least some of it contained nudity, which he felt was inappropriate.

Willes, who was named Times publisher in 1997 and left in 2000, said in an e-mail that this was false, and that his decision “had nothing to do with the nature of the paintings themselves.”

“I was not off ended by them in any way,” said Willes, who later served as chief executive of Deseret Management Corp., which manages assets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “My concern was that I thought the executive dining room as well as other key places in the building should celebrate journalism and that we should display things that really represented the remarkable people we had in the company and the things they did.”

Times Mirror began to unload some art in 1998 — more than a dozen modern and contemporary pieces it said were too delicate or too valuable to keep in bustling offi ces.

Continue on page 6

MISSING LINK: The Times-Mirror Executive dining room housed several Picasso artwork.

OUT OF BUSINESS: Artwork in The Times’ New York bureau being prepared to be sent to an auction house as part of the off ice’s closure in 2012.


COMMUNITY COVER STORY

Continued from Page 5

A Diebenkorn painting titled Ocean Park No. 9 fetched $860,500 at auction, and a sculpture by Alexander Archipenko called Gondolier sold for $574,500. In all, 12 items brought a total of $2.13 million.

Some less valuable works that remained were sold to staff members; others were given to top editors when they left the company, said Elke Corley, an administrator who long maintained the collection and retired in 2001.

Bill Dwyre said in an email that when he was named sports editor in 1981, he was given the chance to select artwork from the company collection for his offi ce. He chose two pieces by Tamayo, but said it became a joke among his reporters that he’d selected the fi ne art over sports-related items also on off er.

“Some of my staff was semi-mortifi ed because they thought they knew me and now there seemed to be a new element that said I actually knew something about art,” Dwyre said. “I, of course, didn’t know a thing about art. I just liked the way the Tamayos looked.”

Years later, after returning from an out-of-town assignment, Dwyre discovered that they had been replaced by two Picasso lithographs.

Dwyre was told that the Tamayos were being sold and Corley had swapped them with the lithographs. She didn’t want him to go without artwork on his walls, he recalled.

When he retired in 2015, he got permission to take the Picassos with him.

“On my last day,” Dwyre said, “I rolled Pablo Picasso out to my car in a grocery cart and they now hang in my home.”

For decades, The Times’ New York bureau was fi lled with lithographs, aquatints and collages by the likes of Elaine de Kooning and Robert Rauschenberg.

Around 2010, as the offi ce packed up for a planned move, Tribune asked that valuables be shipped back to Chicago, said former bureau chief Geraldine Baum.

Baum, however, was loath to return the artwork to Tribune, which was then bankrupt after real estate magnate Sam Zell’s ill-fated purchase of the company in 2007.

“I remember thinking, ‘I am not sending this to Sam Zell. There is no way,’” Baum said.

Looking to the offi ce’s walls, which were also decorated with posters, she hatched a plan.

“I was a little mischievous and put valueless posters in wooden crates and sent them back to Chicago instead,” she said. “I felt they’d already gotten enough value out of the company. I was representing a news organisation that I cherished.”

She never heard a complaint from Tribune, and the artwork made the move with the rest of the bureau. But it didn’t last long there.

In 2012, amid further cost-cutting, The Times gave up its New York offi ce space and the remaining art.

Seven works were auctioned in May 2012, fetching a total of $6,150, with a Rauschenberg print achieving the highest price of the bunch: $1,700. It was a pedestrian sum for artwork that had been so fi ercely

protected — and enjoyed — by the bureau’s journalists.

“They gave us this gift of thinking highly enough of us to surround us with beautiful things,” Baum said.

This spring, as Soon-Shiong’s acquisition of The Times was being fi nalised, no one seemed to have any idea where the fi ve Picasso lithographs had gone.

Times editors and executives said they didn’t know, and a spokeswoman for Tronc referred

queries back to The Times’ own spokeswoman, who reiterated the paper’s lack of knowledge on the matter. And with the ownership changes and the sale of the headquarters property, it wasn’t clear even to many in the company who owned the Picassos.

In the scheme of things, the fi ve lithographs weren’t incredibly valuable — they were part of Picasso’s 29-piece Imaginary Portraits series, a complete set

of which sold at a 2014 Sotheby’s auction for $93,750. (In all, 500 sets were made.)

Times Mirror acquired its own full set in 1971, bought in small groups for small sums. A trio, for example, cost $228.54 including shipping, according to company correspondence held in an archive at the Huntington Library.

While inexpensive back then, the fi ve pieces took on particular value to some people at The Times, and had

even become part of some offi cial tours of the complex in recent years.

Times tour guide Darrell Kunitomi noted their disappearance when he greeted visitors in the community room a few years ago.

“I would raise the AV screen, behind which there were fi ve Picassos. People were impressed to see them,” he said. “One night I raised it, and there was a bare wall. I had no idea as to whether they were taken or stored — they were simply gone.”

Attempts to track them down went nowhere until a source pointed out an online auction fi rm’s website.

There they were: a crisp image of the fi ve Picasso lithographs housed in a long rectangular frame. There were dollar signs, and a countdown clock.

“Estimate $5,000-$7,000.”The lithographs were being sold —

like all the other art over the years.According to a person with

knowledge of the matter, the Picassos and other art in the building were transferred to Tribune when it bought Times Mirror in 2000. The artwork stayed with Tribune until 2014, when one of the two companies created after its exit from bankruptcy, Tribune Media, received the collection.

Now, this person said, Tribune Media was selling the art via Toomey & Co. Auctioneers. There were 24 pieces in all — most seldom if ever seen by Times staff ers — among them lithographs by Diebenkorn, Tamayo and Norman Rockwell. And, of course, the Picassos. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

TRAITS AND PORTRAITS: David Laventhol, President and Publisher of the Los Angeles Times, left, with Robert F Erburu, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Off icer of the Times Mirror Co., photographed in 1992. The works of art in the image are Alexander Archipenko’s sculpture, “Gondolier,” left, and Richard Diebenkorn’s painting, “Ocean Park No. 9.”

DOWN MEMORY LANE: Dr Franklin D. Murphy chairman of Times Mirror, shows Dr Peter S. Bing, a new director, the boardroom in the new corporate headquarters building, on May 23, 1973. At left is a piece by Helen Frankenthaler.


COMMUNITY

INLS and NLL organises event to remember Bhanubhakta Acharya

By Usha Wagle Gautam

International Nepali Literature Society (INLS) in association with Nabodit Literature Library (NLL) recently organised an event to remember Bhanubhakta

Acharya, first Nepali language poet, to acknowledge him for his contribution in Nepali literature and celebrate his 204nd birthday.

Bhanu Bhakta Acharya is also known as Aadi Kabi, the beginner poet. He was the fi rst poet to translate the Hindu epic of Ramayana from Sanskrit to Nepali language, which was a milestone for locals to understand the saga in detail.

The programme was attended by several representatives of Nepali Journalist Association, Public Coordination Council and District Service Society. The attendees also

observed a one minute silence, dedicated to all deceased Nepali writers.

The poets who recited the poems on the occasion are namely, Maya KC, Sita Ram Thapa, Rup Rashaili and Tirtha Sangam Rai.

The newly elected committee of NIL was also introduced at the event. The new office-bearers are namely, Dip Milan, Chairman; Dilip Parajuli, first Vice Chairman; Charka Karki, second Vice Chairman; Tilu Sharma Poudel, General Secretary; Rup Rasahili, Secretary; Santosh Adhikari, Treasurer; Shekar Basnama, Co Treasurer; and Iswor Rai, Mobile Library Co-ordinator. Other members include Lila Nath Ghimire, Sagar Bivor Palpali, Anil Kumar Bista, Madan Chouhan, Nilam Nishchal, Suman Sahatri, Sharad Pandey, Umesh Bhatterai, Narayan Bhandari, Dip Pradip Kumar, Mahendra Khadka and Bibek HM.

FIFA off icer volunteer received warmly at HIAN K Musthafa Sahib, MD (Managing Director) of Qatar Shopping Complex & Saudia Group, recently received PK Noushad, who served as a FIFA off icer volunteer in Football World Cup in Russia 2018, at Hamad International Airport (HIA).


COMMUNITY TRA

By Marjie Lambert

We’re learning that Andy is smart. The boy who owns Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear,

he made only brief appearances in the Toy Story movies, a supporting character while his toys were the leads. But looking at the new Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which according to Disney’s back story Andy created in his own backyard, we realise that he’s resourceful, clever, and creative. Who knew?

Toy Story Land offi cially opened recently. If you thought the toys would continue being the heroes in this chapter of the Toy Story saga, you’ll see now how wrong you were.

Here’s what Andy did to create Toy Story Land: He assembled a Dash & Dodge Mega Coaster Play Kit, but instead of using the standard vehicle that came in the kit, he used his slinky dog toy and turned a dachshund into a roller coaster train. If you have doubts that he’s smart enough to accomplish that, you can see his notes and drawings tacked to the wall in the Slinky Dog Dash loading zone.

He used a playset that he won at Pizza Planet to create the Alien Swirling Saucer ride. He propped open his lunch box with a giant thermos to serve up grilled cheese sandwiches and soda fl oats. And he

turned two other toys, a dump truck and a camper, into souvenir shops.

Andy didn’t make an appearance recently when Disney World showed off the new land to more than 400 members of the media, or when Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear, made an appearance. A crew of Imagineers, Disney’s term for its creative team took all the credit.

Here’s a bit more evidence that Andy, not the Imagineers, is the creative brain behind Toy Story Land. They couldn’t say how high or how fast the roller coaster goes. Asked about the numbers, Pam Rawlins, executive producer of Toy Story Land, said, “It’s just thrilling enough that it can appeal to everyone.”

Setting aside for the moment the question of who was the real creative mind behind Toy Story Land, here’s what you’ll fi nd there.

Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster is fast but it’s not too fast. It never turns upside down but it has smooth banked turns, two high-speed launches and a couple of not-too-steep but still thrilling drops. The coaster, the centrepiece attraction, is just right for kids under 10 who’ve outgrown kiddie coasters.

It might be a little tame for thrill-seeking teens, but their parents, who grew up in the era of the fi rst Toy Story movie (1995), might fi nd Slinky Dog Dash more their style than high-speed coasters that have sheer drops and turn upside down.

And the decor, colourful and full

Toy Story Land comesDisney’s Hollywood S

OPENING: Toy Story Land opened its doors for visitors at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. TIME WELL SPENT: Guests can enjoy Wheezy and Robert Goulet singing You’ve

9GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYTuesday, July 17, 2018

AVEL

s to life atStudios

e Got a Friend in Me at the end of the Slinky Dog Dash ride.

of classic toys, might appeal to their grandparents (or people old enough to be grandparents), who grew up in the era of Tinker Toys, which are part of the kitschy infrastructure, and Slinky Dog, a pull toy that came out in 1952 and is the model for the coaster.

The park’s youngest guests may like Alien Swirling Saucers, where the minimum height to ride is only 32 inches.

More than many theme park lands (or clusters or islands), Toy Story Land has an appeal that is multigenerational. It was deliberately designed that way, said Ryan Wineinger, creative director for Toy Story Land.

“One of our guiding principles was making this experience something that children and their parents and their grandparents could all have a good time here,” said Wineinger, who added that he and Andy were the same age when the fi rst movie came out in 1995.

If the land is going to be true to the values of the Toy Story movies, he said, “We need it to be multigenerational. It’s a very fi ne line between being an approachable attraction and being too thrilling for the young ones or for the older generation.”

The 11-acre land sits roughly behind Toy Story Mania, Which got a new entrance across from Slinky Dog Dash, a third track, and a general refresh.

Here’s what to know about Toy Story Land.

How fast is Orlando’s newest roller coaster? Disney won’t say. Its representatives frequently compare Slinky Dog Dash to another family coaster, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom, which has a top speed of 39 miles per hour. Slinky Dog feels faster than that.

Another coaster with parallels to Slinky Dog Dash is Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens, also a family coaster. Like Cheetah Hunt, Slinky Dog has a couple of launch points from which the coaster accelerates like a rocket. On Cheetah Hunt, a launch takes the coaster to 60 mph, its top speed. Slinky Dog Dash doesn’t feel that fast.

Best guess for Slinky Dog Dash IS 45-50 mph.

Minimum height for Slinky Dog Dash is 38 inches, which generally means children as young as 3 or 4 can ride with their parents, although Disney had in mind children a couple years older.

Which toys are real and which were created for the movies?

Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear, who greet visitors at either end of Toy Story Land, are original characters who were created for the Toy Story movies. But more of the toys featured at Toy Story Land are real toys from the mid ‘40s through the ‘60s, including Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Tinker Toys, Etch-A-Sketch, Barrel of Monkeys, Cooties and Slinky Dog.

What’s with the spinning spaceships?

Alien Swirling Saucers was designed for kids 3 and older. It is based on a scene from the original movie in which a giant claw in a vending machine occasionally descends and grabs a little green alien. On the ride, a claw grasping a helpless alien hovers overhead.

The ride’s architecture is similar to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree in Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland. The ride vehicles, toy rockets pulled by aliens in tiny spaceships, are arranged on the disks or carousels that turn constantly and move the spacecraft from one circling carousel to the next. And it’s a generation or so removed from the Mad Tea Party at Magic Kingdom, which also has a rotating carousel. Unlike the teacups though, the rockets don’t spin which is probably more of a relief to adults than it is to spin-loving kids.

Who wants a retro breakfast? One of Toy Story Land’s most

unexpected features is a food item, sugary pastries such as Pop-Tarts, a still-popular snack introduced by Kellogg in 1964. At Woody’s Lunch Box, you can buy Raspberry or Chocolate-Hazelnut Lunch Box Tarts developed by Disney’s culinary team.– Miami Herald/TNS SWING: On the ride, the claw grasps the helpless alien hovers overhead.

MAKING A STATEMENT: Green Army Men march through Toy Story Land.


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

If you were off ered the opportunity to take a trip around the world,

where you would see wonderful palaces, would you take it? The

freedom would tempt you, without a doubt, but would it make you

happy, Aries? Have you considered the possibility that you can

create an environment here at home that gives you that same sense

of freedom?

It will be as though you’re in a new, hopeful world today, Cancer.

The people you meet will be cordial and caring, and the future will

seem like a bright, attractive place to live. In other words, you feel

as though you’re living in a fabulous dream. Alas, the alarm clock is

bound to wake you up soon. Enjoy the sweet reality of the day ahead

while it lasts.

The day ahead should be excellent. You’ve been searching for

meaning behind recent events. No doubt there have been a lot

of changes both at work and at home. You’re bursting with new

ambition. Today, Libra, you’re likely to put all these experiences into

the hopper, stir them up, and be grateful for the thrilling life you lead

right now! You may not get a specific answer.

This kind of strange day doesn’t occur often, Capricorn. You no

longer seem to know what you want. Work or time off ? Redecorate

your house or live in a beach shack? It’s hard to communicate

because you feel it’s pointless to try to explain your point of view,

especially when you don’t know what it is. The best thing to do may

be to unplug from your usual activities and go for a walk.

Today might be a bit diff icult, Taurus, because you aren’t likely to be

as productive as usual. You won’t have much to say, and you’ll feel

sleepy and somewhat grumpy. In other words, it’s the perfect day

to go back to bed with that novel. Take a nap – or several naps – and

follow your desire to do as little as possible. There will be plenty of

time to catch up on work.

Because your tendency recently has been to brood over everything,

Leo, a day like this can’t be anything but beneficial. It has been

diff icult for you to find material satisfaction of late, but today off ers

you a view into the world of the intangible and unreal. You may find

it especially gratifying to participate in an artistic or religious activity.

You’ll probably be perfectly in tune with the day ahead, Scorpio.

Of course, there are days when it’s tempting to run away from the

reality of the moment and its hardships. At times like today, you’re

so compassionate that you find it easy to listen to others, and life is

truly rewarding. People find your company soothing and pleasant,

and they are likely to thank you for it.

Do countries abroad represent real opportunities for you, Aquarius?

This is a question that you’ll soon have to answer. The grass may be

greener on the other side of the world, but have you considered the

possibility that it isn’t? Could it be that the dream of working abroad

is a convenient explanation for the dissatisfaction you feel at work?

You certainly are in a strange mood today, Gemini. True, things have

been going smoothly for the past few days, but be careful not to fool

yourself. “Pride comes before a fall,” as the expression goes. You

should be wary of the way you treat your friend now. You’re likely to

be dismayed by your sweetie’s attitude, yet you’re the one who has

strayed from reality.

There are days when you feel wonderful without being able to

attribute the feeling to any real event. Of course, your rational mind

will search for a reason for the happiness. If you count the number

of times when you do things against your will or better judgment,

it becomes obvious that logic and reason don’t always apply to this

world. Don’t even try to understand, Virgo, just enjoy!

Don’t even try to understand what’s happening today, Sagittarius,

because you won’t be able to fathom it. Collective currents of

concern are imposing upon your life and you’re powerless to stop

them. Some soul searching may help. True, at the moment you do

feel like you’re just a grain of sand in a vast universe, but is that really

so bad?

Today won’t be like most other days, Pisces. Look around and you’ll

see that people either have their heads in the clouds, are depressed,

or seem to be trying to keep up a good front. The planetary

atmosphere is such that a lot of people – and you in particular – feel

frustrated by an inability to realise their dreams. This is a diff icult

situation to be sure. Know that it will pass.

Take note of time, space to sleep like a baby: ExpertsY

ou’ve heard of oral hygiene, personal hygiene and food hygiene, but did you know you there was something as simple as sleep hygiene, that ensures blissful, uninterrupted

sleep? Little things like room temperature, room darkness, sound disturbance and colour comfort can make a huge diff erence, say experts.

“Quick, restful, deep sleep is something that comes from being in a peaceful state of mind. When you are free of any mental baggage you can sleep anywhere. However, it is important to have a comfortable environment tuned to your specifi c needs to be able to optimise sleep.

“If you’re married, having a like-minded partner in terms of your lighting, temperature and decor helps immensely to nestle into oblivion for those 8 hours, before you begin another grueling day.” said Sanjay Ghosh, MBBS, MD, General Medicine,Upasana Diagnostic Centre in Kolkata.

Alphonse Reddy, CEO and co-founder of Sunday Mattresses shares some tips to help you sleep like a baby.

You want to work that body up through the day, so it begs for sleep at night. Avoid taking naps in the afternoon or any other time in the day so you hit your bed exhausted at bedtime.

At bedtime, don’t stress about how many hours of sleep you’ll get before you have to drag yourself to another long tiring day at work. Nothing works better than easing yourself to sleep with no negative thoughts.

Your bedroom should be your personal happy space, your cocoon. Make sure you have the lighting and decor done to your taste. The temperature should be right. If you’re married, make sure you sign a temperature treaty, rather than a prenup.

Your bed should allow you enough space to stretch and roll without being cramped. Get a pillow that fi ts your contours. Sleep with the right posture, without kicking your partner or kids out of the bed. If you’re single, enjoy the luxury of having the ‘whole’ bed to yourself and sleep on that thought.

There are some things you just can’t help. Are you a morning person or a night person? If you’re a morning person, there is no way you are going to stay up with the

owls — sleep hygiene or no hygiene. You’ll go to bed early and wake up early. Figure this one out.

No matter how hard a day you’ve had, you owe yourself an hour or two to wind down. Do what makes you happy before you go to bed. Read a book, paint, watch a movie, knit, work out, dance. A happy mind equals sound sleep.

When most of us follow a rigorous 9-5 work day, our food habits almost always go out the window. Don’t eat dinner at 11 pm. You’re guaranteed to have heartburn leaving you tossing and turning through the night. Eat dinner by 8 p.m. You’ll starve the fi rst few days of this, but you’ll survive if you follow through.

Sun your mattresses and pillows regularly. A damp, moldy bed and pillow not only give your body aches, but also snatch your sleep away.

Warm milk before bed almost always works.

It helps if you sleep at the same time every day. When you start out on your schedule, it might not work, but our body clocks are little miracle time-keepers and adapt to everything, provided you follow habits. — 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.

Chess

ATTACKBISHOPBLACKBOARDCAPTURECASTLECHECKCLOCKDIAGONALDRAW

ENDGAMEEXCHANGEGAMBITKINGKNIGHTMATEMOVEOPENINGPAWNPIN

QUEENRANKROOKSQUARETHREATWHITEWINZUGZWANG


COMMUNITYPUZZLES

Colouring

Answers

Wordsearch Codeword

ACROSS1. The figure (a fifty) is to denote

poison (9)6. The above accommodation is

for a wild bird that got caught (5)

9. He’ll do his best to return at three (5)

10. How should you be when looking for a gas leak? (9)

11. Superior to the stewing beef during the pleasure trip (10)

12. What she came back with, when you named the vowels A, I, O, U? (4)

14. Members of the upper classes (7)

15. No truce can be arranged if you vanquish someone (7)

17. The old cry about bringing back wine shops (7)

19. People, it seems, get upset about it (7)

20. Tax, for a start, the island (4)22. Saw one wasn’t tolerant

enough (10)25. Though fever has broken out

close by, don’t worry (5,4)26. I myself get about a third of a

bucket to fill (5)27. Spooky and somewhat queer?

I echo that (5)28. Binding when tents are

pitched round the inside (9)

Super Cryptic Clues

Yesterday’s Solutions

Across: 1 Cup-tie; 4 Cushions; 10 Tetanus; 11 Haggard; 12 Acre; 13 Lion’s share; 16 Exodus; 17 Permute; 20 Stand up; 21 Beagle; 24 Paraphrase; 25 Snug; 27 Improve; 29 Dead-set; 30 Grossest; 31 Tended.

Down: 1 Cottager; 2 Paternoster; 3 Iona; 5 Unhinged; 6 High summer; 7 Ova; 8 Sidney; 9 Astir; 14 Antagonised; 15 Turnip-tops; 18 Quarters; 19 Weighted; 22 Spring; 23 Aside; 26 Bale; 28 Pro.

DOWN1. With “The same again,” I’d

knocked back the tot poured out (5)

2. Put one’s ear to the key that had oil on it? (9)

3. Would Show Me The Way To Go Home be one of them? (5-5)

4. Regrets freeing the last chaps imprisoned (7)

5. Made money in the East weaving material (7)

6. Err in getting a sherry that’s pale (4)

7. The tendency is to have an upright finish (5)

8. Chuck a gun back with the shells (9)

13. What you get paid for doing it? (10)

14. In essence, wealth (9)16. Money other than Russian?

That’s easy (2,7)18. Breaks when you turn the red

lights out (7)19. He cuts the corn in hers badly

(7)21. A quicker meal? (5)23. Went on and on about having

a tenant? (5)24. He leaves her in charge in an

honorary capacity (4)


COMMUNITY POP SPOT

NHS Voices

A Bridge Over You, their mash up cover of Simon and

Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Coldplay’s Fix

You, gave the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir the 2015

Christmas week chart-topping single in Britain. They beat out

Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself with the now newly-engaged

Justin actually urging his fans to buy the NHS Choir’s charity

single.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Britain’s National Health

Service, the NHS Choir have now released their cover of The

Beatles’ classic song, With A Little Help From My Friends. It is

another charity single with all proceeds being donated to NHS

Charities Together, a group of more than 130 NHS charities

which support patients, staff and community initiatives.

This time though, the NHS Choir are not alone. The song

is credited to NHS Voices because a host of stars from the

music world who fully appreciate the work of the NHS are also

involved in the project.

British artists might perhaps be expected but some American

stars have also been keen to participate. These include

superstar singer, rapper, songwriter and producer Timbaland.

He co-produced the track along with BRIT Award-winning

producer Jon Cohen.

Chic star Nile Rodgers is one of the performers. He feels his

appearance on the song is some sort of very small repayment

for the help he has received from the NHS.

“It’s my honour to support NHS Voices,” Nile remarked. “The

NHS saved my life many times back in the day. It’s a total

pleasure for me to be part of the song.”

More than 30 artists perform on the track. These include Rick

Astley, Alexandra Burke, Marina and The Diamonds, Seal and

Beverley Knight. The With A Little Help From My Friends video

can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQS-V9MZtDA

Shakira

It’s been a mixed time for Colombian superstar singer Shakira.

She has made a triumphant return to the concert stage with

her El Dorado world tour. This was after fearing that a vascular

lesion might have left her unable to ever sing again.

But the house she shares with her Spanish footballer partner

Gerard Pique was burgled on the second night of her tour. The

thieves stole valuables such as watches and jewellery.

Gerard and his fellow Spanish stars were bundled out of

the World Cup by hosts Russia and Shakira’s own Colombia

team were beaten by England. To cap it all, an item of

merchandise sold at her concerts was withdrawn from sale

after complaints that it closely resembled an important Nazi

symbol.

The necklace designed to commemorate Shakira’s tour was

based on Pre-Columbian imagery. Unfortunately, it is virtually

identical to the sun wheel emblem which dominates the floor

of the SS Generals Hall in Wewelsburg Castle.

Owned by SS chief Heinrich Himmler, the 17th century

three-sided castle was to have become a Nazi version of King

Arthur’s Camelot. It is now one of Germany’s most popular

tourist attractions with part of the building being converted

into a museum devoted to the history of the SS.

Mel B / Lily Allen

One person probably pushing hard for a Spice Girls reunion

is singer Melanie Brown. Better known as Mel B, she recently

revealed she owes America’s Internal Revenue Service

hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and is unable

to pay her debts.

Where all the millions have gone from her days as a Spice Girl

is anyone’s guess. She has also been employed as a judge on

NBC Television’s America’s Got Talent for the past five years.

This job must surely have earned Mel a substantial salary.

Not that Mel’s debts compare to those of singer / songwriter

Lily Allen. She informed anyone who would listen that she was

more than one million GBP in debt.

Lily gave this information while in the process of promoting

her aptly titled latest album, No Shame. Perhaps her revelation

was intended to persuade fans to help her out by buying the

album. It debuted at number eight on the U.K. chart for June

15 but immediately fell to number 46, then to number 78 in

week three and is now out of the top 100.

By Geoff rey Rowlands

The international success of Latin trap artistes over the last year or so has become nothing short of a pop music phenomenon. Puerto

Rican star Bad Bunny has now joined a number of his countrymen in recording a massive world-wide hit. I Like It, a song he co-wrote and performed with American rapper Cardi B and Colombian singer J. Balvin, has reached the top ten in numerous countries and taken pole position on Billboard’s Hot 100.

In so doing, the track gave Bunny and J. Balvin their fi rst Hot 100 chart-topper while it is Cardi’s second number one following Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) which held top spot for three weeks last October.

Cardi has now become the fi rst female rapper with two chart-topping tracks on the Hot 100. Only four others have ever taken pole position. Lauryn Hill in 1998 with Doo Wop (That Thing), Lil Kim, along with Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya, with Lady Marmalade in 2001, Shawna, as a guest artist on Ludacris’ 2003 track, Stand Up, and Iggy Azalea with Fancy in 2014.

“It’s an amazing experience to be part of a number one song,” said Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio. “I got a taste for it when Cardi’s Invasion of Privacy album topped the Billboard 200. It was great to be part of that. But I was just on the one album track. It feels extra special to have that

track become an enormous hit single.“I’m particularly happy for Cardi

who was great to work with. I’ve worked with J. Balvin before and we have a great chemistry together when it comes to making music. I loved the track from the beginning. I knew it was going to be a big hit.

“The producers were already working on I Like It before J. Balvin and I were called in. Even Cardi didn’t know about it. The producers told me it would be a surprise for her. Everything was so natural. Working on it together was a genuine pleasure. It’s so rewarding that the fans obviously enjoy hearing the song as much as we enjoyed making it.”

Still only 24, Bunny has exploded on the Latin trap scene over the last two years. Music insiders say no other performer has ever developed at such speed in the Latino market. In 2017, he appeared on more than a dozen hit tracks and his songs notched up in excess of four billion views on YouTube. He has certainly come a long way from singing on a balcony at school.

“I’m from Vega Baja which is a small beachside area, not a metropolis like San Juan where most Puerto Rican artists come from. I did sing on a balcony at school and people would stand around listening. I always knew I wanted to be a singer since I was fi ve years old. I’ve been writing my own songs since I was 13. Having that audience at school gave me the confi dence to know people wanted to hear me.”

DJ Luian certainly wanted to hear him. Bunny earned some cash by working as a supermarket bagger

while studying for an Audiovisual Communications degree at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. He used the money to record his music and uploaded a number of songs to SoundCloud. It was these tracks, a mix of rap and singing, which drew the attention of Luian who signed Bunny to his Hear This Music label.

Luian paired Bunny with a string of major players on the Latin trap scene. Their collaborations proved so popular that he quickly topped the wish list of most wanted guest artists for virtually every established star. But while Bunny’s own music is hugely popular, few of his songs receive substantial radio play.

“A lot of stations have problems with my song lyrics. Many of my songs deal with love and lost love but do so in the rawest form, both good and bad. Those songs are either censored or not played at all. My goal is for trap music to be given the space it deserves in the media without having to be censored.”

Was it writing these kind of songs which made Benito choose Bad Bunny as his stage name?

“It actually came from a photograph of myself when I was a kid. I was a fi rst grader at school and got forced to wear this pair of rabbit ears as the Easter bunny.

“Bunnies are supposed to be cuddly and sweet but I didn’t want to wear those rabbit ears and you can defi nitely tell how I felt about it when you look at the picture. I was a bad bunny then and I’m Bad Bunny now, it just seemed like a great stage name.”

Bad Bunny makes good on success

POPULAR: Bad Bunny, Latin trap artiste, has certainly come a long way from singing on a balcony at school.

in brief

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 15GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYSHOWBIZ

By Lorraine Ali

They fi ght crime in old cotton hoodies, shimmering black capes and glowing LED unitards. They can repel bullets with their bodies, leap atop speeding cars like a svelte

cat or dissipate in a puff of eerie smoke, all in the name of justice.

But most impressive of all: They have a newfound power to break colour barriers that were once considered impenetrable.

From Black Panther to Marvel’s Luke Cage, 2018 has seen more African American superheroes in their own namesake productions run, leap and fl y to the forefront of pop culture than any other time in history.

If it wasn’t the blockbuster Disney fi lm set in an African country so advanced it made America look like a developing nation, it was the steel-bending heroics of Netfl ix’s Mr. Cage as he defended Harlem, or family man and high school principal Jeff erson Pierce electrocuting bad guys as the protagonist on the CW’s Black Lightning, or Cloak of Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger challenging corrupt New Orleans cops and robbers with his empathic abilities.

“It used to be that one show had to be representative of all black people,” says Cheo Hodari Coker, showrunner of Marvel’s Luke Cage and a former Los Angeles Times music writer. “Now you have several black superhero narratives on television, and at the same time you also have shows like Atlanta, Queen Sugar, Insecure, The Chi and Power. There’s so many diff erent elements of the black experience on television now, it takes the pressure off any one (show) to represent everybody.”

Black comic book characters date to the 1970s, but on screen, they’ve historically been sidekicks or villains if not entirely absent from Hollywood and television’s ever-increasing adaptations.

But as Ku Klux Klan rallies astoundingly have become a thing again, and unarmed black men and women are still disproportionately the victims of police violence, and the perpetrators of killings like Trayvon Martin’s are given impunity simply because they believed a hoodie-clad teen was “up to no good,” avengers of colour couldn’t be more timely.

Cress Williams, who plays high-voltage hero Black Lightning, lists some of the ripped-from-the-headlines issues his character was up against in Season 1: “Crime, police corruption, political corruption, drugs, police brutality.”

Williams, whose versatile career stretches from Prison Break to Hart of Dixie, continued: “Sometimes in a fantasy context, it’s easier to look at truths because you see them from a distance. It’s like ‘Oh, it’s sci fi or superhero,’ so it’s a great medium to look at some of our ills. Even though (our show features) a fi ctional city, it’s kind of representative of so many cities across America that seem forgotten and lost. With the show, we can look at it from that safe distance.”

Now there are enough avengers of colour to tell several stories with the latitude only fantasy provides. Who wouldn’t love to bend a mugger’s gun into a pretzel as Cage

has done, or terrorise those gangs that have terrorised the neighbourhood a la Black Lightning, or catch dirty vice cops red-handed like Cloak?

Their recent impact on screen will no doubt be felt this week at San Diego’s annual Comic-Con. The event will be full of fan boys and girls deconstructing the genesis of Cage’s powers, claiming they were into Black Panther before anyone else knew the name T’Challa, and chasing down characters from Cloak & Dagger for selfi es (then it’s back to stalking The Walking Dead cast members).

This year also brought us more black female heroes, though not in lead roles. Domino (Zazie Beetz) brought luck to the foul-mouthed Deadpool, the fi erce Wakanda warriors of Black Panther kept their king safe, and Black Lightning’s formidable daughters, Thunder (Nafessa Williams) and Lightning (China Anne McClain), both aided in saving their glow-in-the-dark dad more than once.

Samuel L. Jackson’s chilly character Frozone also returned this year in Pixar’s The Incredibles 2. He preceded the current wave of African American heroes but still has the coolest powers of the pack.

The uptick in representation could be studios and networks responding to criticism that their productions and programming have forever been whiter than the hair of Game of Thrones Daenerys

Targaryen. But there’s also the oldest motivator in show biz to consider.

“The colour Hollywood cares about the most is green,” says Coker, who worked on both seasons of Luke Cage. “Having more cultural heroes is lucrative. It’s diff erent than seeing your average ‘expected’ superhero, and culture is the cheapest special eff ect around. Or I should say it’s the cheapest but most profound special eff ect available.”

Notably it was Black Panther, not a Captain America or Iron Man movie, that became the third-highest-grossing fi lm ever in America. The production starring Chadwick Boseman made a staggering $1.3 billion worldwide after its premiere in February.

The fi lm certainly set a high bar and high expectations for the other franchise superhero projects arriving in its wake. The Afro-Latin character Miles Morales is the man behind the mask in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony’s forthcoming animated feature starring The Get Down’s Shameik Moore as the voice of the web-spinning defender. As with all superheroes, Cage, Cloak, Mr. Panther and Black Lightning are confl icted, torn between their personal lives and public crime fi ghting. But for black superheroes, the idea of using violence to combat violence carries more weight given Hollywood’s go-to stereotypes for characters of colour. – Los Angeles Times/TNS

What’s Katrina’s fi tness mantra at 35?

From Dhoom 3 to Tiger Zinda Hai, Katrina Kaif has never failed to surprise her audience with her performances and super-fi t body. As she turned 35 on Monday, celebrity trainer Yasmin Karachiwala shared the actress’ fi tness secret.

Revealing Katrina’s transformational journey Karachiwala, a Reebok Fitness Ambassador, said in a statement: “Katrina is one of the most interesting people to work with because she expects a new workout every time she walks in to the gym. The workout should meet what her goals are, it should meet her fi tness levels and it should meet strengthening the parts that are weak.”

Before beginning work on each movie, Katrina sits with the trainer to create a fi tness regime and new schedule. Karachiwala said that for her, it is a big boost to train someone like Katrina as it challenges and motivates her.

“Katrina’s exercises vary from day to day depending on her erratic shooting schedule. She prefers an intensive high mix of squats, lunges to push-ups and pilates, all of which make her fi tter and stronger. Katrina’s workout is designed with the purpose of increasing her strength and fl exibility,” she said.

The actress will next be seen in Aanand L. Rai’s Zero. She is currently in London and celebrating her special day with her family members. – IANS

Nagarjuna has extremely special role in Brahmastra: KJo

Filmmaker Karan Johar says he is honoured and excited to have southern superstar Nagarjuna play a special role in his upcoming production venture Brahmastra.

Karan on Monday took to Twitter and wrote: “We are honoured and exceptionally excited to have the one and only Nagarjuna doing an extremely ‘special’ role in our fi lm Brahmastra! Directed by Ayan Mukerji, (starring) Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor... Thank you Sir for your love and your beautiful energy.” He also shared a photograph from the fi lm’s shoot.

A tweet from Karan’s home production banner Dharma Productions read: “The Brahmastra team is now bigger and grander! Super stoked to have Nagarjuna on board for a very special part in the journey.” Brahmastra is a trilogy. Its fi rst part will release on India’s Independence Day on August 15, 2019. — IANS

Black superheroes are breaking barriers

COLOUR AVENGER: A scene from Black Panther has seen more African-American superheroes in their own namesake productions run, leap and fly to the forefront of pop culture than any other time in history.

SUPER FIT: Before each new movie, Katrina Kaif sits with the trainer to create a fitness regime and new schedule.

SPECIAL: Nagarjuna plays a special role in Karan Johar’s upcoming production venture Brahmastra.

Notably, it was Black Panther, not a Captain America or Iron Man movie, that became

the third-highest-grossing film ever in America. The production starring Chadwick

Boseman made a staggering $1.3 billion worldwide after its premiere in February


COMMUNITY

By Mudassir Raja

To pay posthumous tribute to and express love and respect for his father, a Doha-based Indian entrepreneur has brought about a book

containing research articles, written by his father on diff erent topics, ranging from archaeology to religion.

Compiled and published in Doha, Aks-e-Yusuf (Refl ections of Yusuf) is an anthology of as many as 18 select essays and articles written by late Yusuf Kamal Bukhari in Urdu language. The book has been published by the Bukhari Foundation Qatar.

The research work on the book and the selection of the articles has been made by Nadeem Mahir, a Qatar-based Urdu poet and writer. The formal launching of the book is planned in Bhopal, India, in a few days. A separate launching ceremony will be organised in Doha in September.

The idea of collecting diff erent articles of his father, published in diff erent indian and international newspapers, came to Muhammad Sabih (M S) Bukhari, Chairman of Bukhari Foundation and a known businessman and philanthropist living in Qatar, as his family came across the material from his father’s belongings while cleaning their ancestral house in Bhopal. M S Bukhari started a search on the works of his

father and got amazed to see the quality and volume of the creative and research work his father had done.

Community recently spoke to M S Bukhari about his father and the book.

Giving details about the life and works of his father, M S Bukhari said that his father was born in 1923 and died in 1996. He had post graduate degrees in History and Persian. After his education, he joined Indian Administrative Services. He had two sons Muhammad Masih Bukhari and M S Bukhari. He added that his father remained associated with the archaeology department of the Indian government. He was an archivist.

Talking about his father’s works and contributions, M S Bukhari said that his father was at home in Urdu, Hindi, English, Persian, Arabic, French and German languages. He had carried out research works and wrote about diff erent issues ranging from archaeology, history, social issues and Islam. He was also adept at museology. While working with the archaeology department of India, he restructured and re-established many museums in France, US, Canada, Australia, Spain, Yemen, and Algeria during 1950s and 60s.

When asked about how he came to the idea of bringing about the book, M S Bukhari said, “It was about fi ve years ago that I read a book written by my father. As I read, I realised that my father was an intellectual and scholar of high eminence. I went through most of the

material, written by him and published in diff erent newspapers of that time. Then, I thought of compiling and preserving his articles in a book. I needed a trustworthy person, who could help me with the task. Nadeem Mahir, a Doha-based Urdu poet and writer, agreed to carry out the research on my father’s Urdu articles and compile them in book form.”

M S Bukhari further noted, “The main reason to publish the book is to fi ll the gap – the period I was away from my parents – and I missed my father as a personality, my father as an intellectual, and my father as a writer. I have a complex that I do not know my father well. I want to know more about my father and the book is just an eff ort in that direction. The message I want to convey is that though we live with our parents, we may not know them as a person. My message is to know them more.”

About the content of the book, he said, “The purpose of the book is to preserve the work of my father. I also want the world to know about him and his works. I will distribute the book to diff erent libraries and universities in the world. Further, the book is a source of information for Urdu lovers both in India and in Qatar. I also plan to bring out further editions of the book in Urdu as there was a lot of material in the language. I will also bring about books containing works of Yusuf in English, French and Arabic.”

Entrepreneur recalls father through a posthumous book

FOND RECALL: Muhammad Sabih Bukhari, an eminent Indian entrepreneur, based in Doha.

TRIBUTE: The book is an anthology of as many as 18 select essays and articles written by late Yusuf Kamal Bukhari in Urdu language.

FATHER: Yusuf Kamal Bukhari.

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