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• Punjabi Association celebrates Lohri

• Nepal music show

• Haruki Murakami responds to readers’ questions online

• I: Vikram makes it an exceptional film

• Stressful jobs may increase stroke risk

• YouTube: PewDiePie, DC Toys Collector and Katy Perry top 2014

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Toyota Camry 2015 delivers

� Birdman and Grand Budapest Hotel lead pack with nine nominations apiece� The Imitation Game in second place with eight� Boyhood trails with six, alongside American Sniper� Selma snubbed with two� Surprise nominations for Marion Cotillard, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper and Robert Duvall

2 COVER STORYPLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

By Catherine Shoard

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel scored nine nominations at the 87th Academy Awards, announced

in Los Angeles on Thursday. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s experi-mental satire about a fading movie actor (played by Michael Keaton) tied for top place going into the awards with Wes Anderson’s whim-sical comedy.

That left Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s audacious 12-years-in-the-making coming-of-age epic, trailing with just six nominations, the same as Clint Eastwood’s Iraq war drama American Sniper, which has recently picked up momentum.

Boyhood took top honours at the Golden Globes last Sunday, scoop-ing gongs for best drama, best direc-tor and best supporting actress. Birdman’s predicted win in the best comedy or musical category was snatched instead by The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Selma, Ava DuVernay’s stirring civil rights drama about Martin Luther King’s 1965 campaign to secure equal voting rights in Alabama, which had been seen as a frontrunner, went home with just two nominations, for best picture and best song for Glory. Had its direc-tor been nominated, it would have made her the first black woman to be so. The glaring lack of non-white faces across the board – especially stark the year after the best picture victory for 12 Years a Slave – was bemoaned on social media. British actor David Oyelowo was also over-looked for his performance.

There was good news for the Brits elsewhere, however. The Imitation Game, about Alan Turing’s time as a Bletchley Park codebreaker, scored nods for Benedict Cumberbatch’s lead performance and Keira Knightley’s supporting, as well as best picture, best director, best adapted screen-play, best editing, best production design and best music.

Rival scientist biopic The Theory of Everything took five nominations, including one for best picture, one for each of its leads – Felicity Jones

and Eddie Redmayne - one for music and another for adapted screenplay. Eric Fellner, co-chairman of produc-ers Working Title, paid tribute to the film’s subject, Stephen Hawking: “He’s won everything else already, so it’d be gorgeous if he got close to an Oscar.”

Meanwhile the team behind Mr Turner – which scored no Globes nominations and a disappointing haul at the Baftas – will be cheered by its four Oscar nods, for music, production design, costume design and cinematography. But there was nothing for Timothy Spall’s perform-ance, nor for Mike Leigh’s direction or screenplay.

Dick Pope, Leigh’s longtime cin-ematographer, reacted with elation to his second Oscar nomination, and first for his work with Leigh. The lack of nominations in headline cat-egories was, he said, a happy change from the norm. “It would be churl-ish of me to whinge and nitpick. It’s been many years that actors have taken the front stage. It’s great that we, Mike’s company of players, have finally taken one for the team.”

When Pope’s name was read out, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs managed an unfortunate mispronunciation of Pope’s sur-name as “Poop”. Pope had not heard the broadcast as he was otherwise engaged – revisiting the Late Turner show at Tate Britain.

Rosamund Pike was also nomi-nated for best actress for her role in Gone Girl, alongside shock nomi-nee Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night. Jennifer Aniston failed to make the cut, in the end, for her anti-vanity project as a chronic pain sufferer in Cake. But Julianne Moore is seen as the clear favourite in this category for her role as a neurosci-entist with early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice.

Robert Duvall (in The Judge) and Laura Dern (in Wild) were outsider shots in the best supporting catego-ries whose inclusion was met with cheers as the nominees were read out. The inclusion of Bradley Cooper in the best actor race was blindsiding for commentators who had reserved the space for Jake Gyllenhaal.

The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman tie for top honours

3PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

BEST PICTURE

• American Sniper• Birdman• Boyhood• The Grand Budapest Hotel• The Imitation Game• Selma• The Theory of Everything• Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

• Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman

• Richard Linklater – Boyhood• Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher• Wes Anderson – The Grand

Budapest Hotel• Morten Tyldum – The Imitation

Game

BEST ACTOR

• Steve Carell – Foxcatcher• Bradley Cooper – American

Sniper• Benedict Cumberbatch – The

Imitation Game• Michael Keaton – Birdman• Eddie Redmayne – The Theory

of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

• Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night

• Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

• Julianne Moore – Still Alice• Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl• Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Robert Duvall – The Judge• Ethan Hawke – Boyhood• Edward Norton – Birdman• Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher• JK Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Patricia Arquette – Boyhood• Laura Dern – Wild• Keira Knightley – The Imitation

Game• Emma Stone – Birdman• Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr and Armando Bo – Birdman

• Richard Linklater – Boyhood• E Max Frye and Dan Futterman

– Foxcatcher• Wes Anderson and Hugo

Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Jason Hall – American Sniper• Graham Moore – The Imitation

Game• Paul Thomas Anderson –

Inherent Vice• Anthony McCarten – The

Theory of Everything• Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

BEST FOREIGN FILM

• Ida• Leviathan• Tangerines• Timbuktu• Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• CitizenFour• Finding Vivian Maier• Last Days in Vietnam• The Salt of the Earth• Virunga

BEST ANIMATION

• Big Hero 6• The Boxtrolls• How to Train Your Dragon 2• Song of the Sea• The Tale of Princess Kaguya

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• Everything Is Awesome (music and lyric by Shawn Patterson, performed by Tegan & Sara feat The Lonely Island) – The Lego Movie

• Glory (music and lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn, performed by Common and John Legend) – Selma

• Grateful (music and lyric by Diane Warren, performed by Rita Ora) – Beyond the Lights

• I’m Not Going to Miss You (music, lyric and performance by Glen Campbell) – Glen Campbell ... I’ll Be Me

• Lost Stars (music and lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois, performed by Adam Levine) – Begin Again

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1• Joanna• Our Curse• The Reaper• White Earth

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman• Robert Yeoman – The Grand

Budapest Hotel• Lukasz Zal and Ryszard

Lenczewski – Ida• Dick Pope – Mr Turner• Roger Deakins – Unbroken

BEST EDITING

• Joel Cox and Gary D Roach – American Sniper

• Sandra Adair – Boyhood• Barney Pilling – The Grand

Budapest Hotel• William Goldenberg – The

Imitation Game• Tom Cross – Whiplash

BEST SOUND EDITING

• Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – American Sniper

• Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock – Birdman

• Brent Burge and Jason Canovas – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

• Richard King – Interstellar• Becky Sullivan and Andrew

DeCristofaro – Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING

• John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin – American Sniper

• Jon Taylor, Frank A Montaño and Thomas Varga – Birdman

• Gary A Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten – Interstellar

• Jon Taylor, Frank A Montaño and David Lee – Unbroken

• Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley – Whiplash

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR

• Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher

• Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game

• Hans Zimmer – Interstellar• Gary Yershon – Mr Turner• Jóhann Jóhannsson – The

Theory of Everything

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock – The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald – The Imitation Game

• Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis – Interstellar

• Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock – Into the Woods

• Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts – Mr Turner

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

• Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

• Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould – Guardians of the Galaxy

• Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher – Interstellar

• Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer – X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice• Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods• Anna B Sheppard and Jane

Clive – Maleficent• Jacqueline Durran – Mr Turner

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• The Bigger Picture• The Dam Keeper• Feast• Me and My Moulton• A Single Life

BEST SHORT

• Aya• Boogaloo and Graham• Butter Lamp• Parvaneh• The Phone Call

Foxcatcher, Interstellar and Whiplash all took five nomina-tions, a better-than-expected result for all three films. A late show of solidarity for Bennett Miller, who recently came under fire from one of the men on whose story Foxcatcher is based, may have helped pro-pel him to a best director nod; the film also picked up a best original screenplay nod, as well as acclaim for Steve Carell in the best actor category and best supporting actor for Mark Ruffalo (although co-star Channing Tatum missed out). Notably, though, it didn’t take one of the eight best picture nomination spaces.

Many had predicted rec-ognition for Whiplash’s edit-ing and best supporting actor (JK Simmons), but Damien Chazelle’s taut drama about a ferocious drum teacher also scored best picture, best sound editing and best adapted screenplay nominations.

Interstellar’s five nomina-tions weren’t quite enough for it to take the honour previously held by Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight for the most nods without a shot at best picture.

But there were some

significant omissions: The LEGO Movie missed out on an expected nomination for best animation, but picked one up in the best song category for ‘Everything is Awesome’. Life Itself, Steve James’s much-loved documentary about the late film critic Roger Ebert, failed to make the cut in best docu-mentary contenders, although Citizenfour, Laura Poitras’s study of the week in which Edward Snowden’s NSA revela-tions – and identity – became public, did make the cut.

Gillian Flynn’s failure to pick up an adapted screenplay nod for her rewrite of novel Gone Girl meant both screenplay cat-egories were solely men-only.

The nominees were announced by Academy presi-dent Cheryl Boone Isaacs, actor Chris Pine and directors Alfonso Cuaron (who took the best director award last year for Gravity) and JJ Abrams, whose Star Wars film is among the most anticipated movies of the year.

The awards will be announced 22 February 22 in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in a cer-emony hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. The Guardian

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Birdman

Ida

CAMPUS /COMMUNITYPLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 20154

Ideal Indian School held fancy dress competition for the students of Upper KG students recently. The tiny tots participated in the event enthusiastically. The attires they wore and the personalities they presented ranged from fictitious characters to common human beings, professionals and great leaders and also witnessed a lot of crea-tive work like sheep, butterfly, sunflower, witch, pirate, plastic bag, farmer, clock, baker, painter, jelly fish etc. The purpose of conducting the competition was not only to blend learning with fun but also to develop confidence in the little ones by giving them an opportunity to get on the stage and speak in front of an audience.

IIS holds fancy dress competition for KG students

The Punjabi Association in Doha celebrated Lohri - the harvest festival of North India with lots of cultural programmes at the Indian Club. The traditional bonfire was lit in the outdoor area of the club and children performed folk dances and adults rendered folk songs to mark the occasion. Around 350 people attended the festivities. Traditional food like makki ki roti with sarsoon ka saag was served for dinner.

Punjabi Association celebrates Lohri

Syanja Relation Committee-Doha organised a folk music night at Quality Hyper Market, Salwa Road, recently. The event saw hundreds of Nepali folk music fans in attendance and was chaired by Bheshraj Parajuli and NRNAICC Vice-Chairman Tb Karki was the chief guest. Programme’s main attraction was popular folk singer Purushottam Neupane performing his hit songs and later he sang a duet with Kala Pangeni (pictured right). Comedian Suresh B C performed his act about social networking sites. Programme was hosted by Nabaraj B K and Khyam Shrestha. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for poor and disabled children in Nepal.

Nepal folk music show

5COMMUNITY / MARKETPLACE PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

IEI Qatar Chapter holds technical seminar A technical seminar was held by the

Qatar Chapter of the Institution of Engineers (India) at ICC (Indian Cultural Center) recently.

Secretary Shaik Kareem Basha welcomed the gathering, introducing the speaker and outlining the impor-tance of the event.

Nanda Kishore Das gave a pres-entation on ‘General Overview Of Electrifications For Buildings And Other Mep Services In Qatar’.

Umesh Kumar, gave a presenta-tion on ‘Under Floor Air Distribution System’.

The seminar was attended by around 60 members and guests. Executive Committee Member

Abhijit Kuwalekar compered the event. Executive Committee member Biranjan Das proposed vote of thanks.

Basha announced that the next three important events to be held are:

Annual General Body meeting of

IEI Qatar Chapter to be held at ICC on January 30.

Annual Family Get together along with beach cleaning programme on February 13 at Wakra Family Garden and beach.

Project 5S-2015 (School Students Struggle for Sustainability and to Save Environment) will be held on February 20 at the Ideal Indian School.

The Peninsula

IEI Qatar Chapter office-bearers and members attending the technical seminar.

Joji Mathew, who had purchased gold jewellery from Malabar Gold & Diamonds branch in Doha received 100 gold coins as part of the 4th edition of Malabar Gold & Diamonds Festival. The customers stand a chance to win a total of 250,000 gold coins and up to QR2m instant cash refund. For every purchase of gold jewel-lery above QR2,000, the customers get a ‘Scratch & Win’ coupon through which they can win a guaranteed gold coin or up to 100 gold coins instantly. With every diamond jewellery purchase, the customers get a ‘Scratch & Win’ coupon for a guaranteed cash refund and get a chance to win up to 100 percent cash back.

Celebration at RetajCelebrating Qatar Handball 2015 in Doha, Retaj Hotels and Hospitality manage-ment marked the event by holding a competition between sister hotels Retaj Al Rayyan and Retaj Royale. Chefs from both hotels presented their best by making a cake to represent the event. Seen in the picture are Medhat Nouby, Regional Director of Finance and Acting CEO of the group, general managers of Retaj Al Rayyan and Retaj Royale Mostafa Abo El Seoud and Ahmed Khorshed, Chef Attia, Chef Abdul Basset, Chef Akram, Chef Hamdy and hotel management team.

Hwang Pan Asian restaurant at InterContinental Doha The City is now open for lunch

Sunday through Thursday from 12 noon to 3pm offering a special bento box menu starting at QR75. Hwang’s normal a la carte and beverage menu also will be available during lunch, which includes a diverse selection of cuisine from eight different Asian countries as well as Hwang’s signature shabu-shabu cooked at the table in an authentic hot pot.

“We are thrilled to be bringing the

quality cuisine of Hwang to daytime diners in the restaurant’s authen-tic Pan Asian atmosphere that’s perfect for gathering with business colleagues, friends and family,” said Pascal Eggerstedt, General Manager. “I think that many people perceive having lunch at a five-star hotel as an expensive and lengthy affair. With the bento box concept, we are chang-ing that by offering quick service and value for money along with a wide variety of Far Eastern dishes from which to choose.”

Hwang’s new lunch menu enables diners to choose from three starters, three main courses and three desserts. The menu, which changes every two weeks, includes items such as Thai vegetable salad, chili shrimp, chicken teriyaki and Asian-style wok chicken as well as banana tempura and pandan crème brule for dessert. Each bento box also includes a choice of rice or noodles. The different courses are arranged in separate compartments and served in a beautifully crafted wooden lacquered bento box. The Peninsula

Hwang introduces bento box for lunch

Gold winner

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 20156 BOOKS

By Justin McCurry

Haruki Murakami (pic-tured) concedes he could improve on one of his most famous novels, says he has learned to

live with the barbs of his critics, and admits feeling slightly awkward about sharing a birthday with Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man.

The novelist’s long-awaited rein-carnation as an agony uncle began on Friday when he started responding to fans’ online questions about, among other topics, bringing up children and hate speech, although he predictably steered away from offering any insights into his private life.

The 66-year-old’s advice column debut was notable, too, for the absence of any discussion about his well-known passion for jazz, cats, running and the Yakult Swallows baseball team.

A day after its launch, Murakami-san no tokoro – or Mr Murakami’s Place – is playing it safe, in keeping with his insistence on indulging in light-hearted conversation with his readers.

Launched by the publishing company Shinchosha, the website shows cartoon renderings of Murakami, dressed in a blue sweater and sitting with ani-mals or typing on a laptop. The site will accept questions until January 31, with Murakami’s responses to a small selection appearing over the following two months.

In 10 brief contributions on the site on Friday, Murakami confirmed his reputation for reticence, but dis-played moments of sardonic wit that will delight devotees in Japan and doz-ens of other countries where his books have sold millions in translation.

One of the early questions came from a 51-year-old doctor who wondered if he was entitled to a “special invitation” to spend a day by the author’s side.

He may have been disappointed with Murakami’s polite, but firm, reply: “There are tiny secrets about my life, so it would be troubling for you to take

a peek into it,” he said. “Instead, try taking a look into other people’s lives.”

Murakami, who established himself as a leading author with his 1987 novel Norwegian Wood, is coaxed into a rare loquacious response to a question about the “global problem” of hate speech.

“As a novelist, I am occasionally the target of hate speech,” he wrote. “There are, after all, some awful people out there … We have to do something about this trend.”

It was not fair, he added, to target people because of their race or other things over which they had no control.

He assured visitors to the site that he would read and reply to the questions personally. “It’s not like I just sign what I made an assistant or editor write,” he said in a greeting. “Unfortunately I only have one body … I can’t answer everyone.”

The site is in Japanese, but

Shinchosha said it would accept ques-tions in English and other languages: an English translation of the applica-tion form can be found at the Taiwan, Japan, Spain and I blog.

The writer rarely appears in pub-lic, preferring to restrict any direct contact with his readers to occasional message exchanges. He has, though, spoken out on contentious topics, such as nuclear power, peace and Japan’s resurgent nationalism.

Readers are invited to post ques-tions or “little somethings” they want to share with the author. No subject is taboo, although messages should con-tain a maximum of 1,200 characters.

One reader, a 43-year-old woman, managed to elicit a guarded response about Murakami’s writing plans.

Asked if he had considered a third work of non-fiction to add to those about running and the 1995 sarin gas

attacks on the Tokyo subway, he said: “I’ve thought about it, but there’s been no real movement on this. The prepa-ration is really hard work.”

Another person asked him how he would improve one of his best-known novels, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, if he had the chance to write the 30-year-old work again.

“When you think about a girl you dated a long time ago, don’t you find yourself thinking, ‘Ah, if only things had gone better,’” Murakami replied. “I often do. It’s the same thing … if only things had gone better. That said, then was then, and I think I did my best.”

Murakami only embraces his agony uncle alter ego once, when a 32-year-old mother explains that she wants to bring up her 11-year-old son to be like him. “He plays computer games every day and never reads books,” she complained.

Murakami replied: “Bring him up like me? I wonder what you mean by that. It’s quite tough being me … but I somehow managed it, because I am me.

“If you mean you want to bring him up to like books, then I think you have to leave that up to him,” he said, adding that he no longer reads as much as he would like since his eyesight seems to have deteriorated slightly.

In response to a 49-year-old woman born on the same date as the novelist – 12 January – he points out that they share a birthday with the author Jack London, but also with the Nazi second-in-command Hermann Göring.

“That’s a bit of a problem,” he said. “But it turns out that after the allies arrested the most senior Nazis after the war, Göring performed best at a kind of intelligence test. Maybe that was down to his date of birth.”

Murakami went on to say he cel-ebrated his birthday with a visit to a restaurant, where he ate a “seafood tower”: a stack of delicacies compris-ing shrimp, lobster, oysters, mussels, sashimi and octopus. “It was incred-ible,” he said.

The Guardian

Secrets and advice: Haruki Murakami responds to readers’ questions online

Novelist responds to questions on bringing up children and hate speech, but steers away from insights into private life.

He assured visitors to the site that he would read and reply to the questions personally. “It’s not like I just sign what I made an assistant or editor write,” he said in a greeting. “Unfortunately I only have one body … I can’t answer everyone.”

A screenshot of the site where Murakami is answering the questions.

WHEELS 7PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

By Warren Brown

None of us want to feel dumb, or that we’ve been “had,” or that we’ve made a stu-pid mistake after spend-

ing thousands of dollars on a new automobile.

We want to think — more important, we want others to think — that we’ve made a smart choice. We are willing to forgo all notions of prestige, wealth or high style in favour of what we feel is public approbation of our intelligence. We want a foolproof “I’m not stupid” car. We want the Toyota Camry.

At least, the numbers show that most of us in the United States who want a midsize family sedan want the Camry. According to numbers com-piled by the Automotive News Data Center, Toyota ended 2014 with US sales of 428,606 Camry sedans, about 4 percent more than the company sold in America the previous year.

That is phenomenal, considering that the Camry has been on sale in this country since 1982, undergoing myriad styling transformations and challenges from rivals Japanese, American, South Korean and European. Through it all, the Camry, reviled as boring and unimagi-native by detractors, has reigned as the sales leader among midsize family sedans.

All that is needed is a week in a Camry — the 2015 Camry SE Hybrid sedan in this case — to understand why.

It’s simple: Camry works and works flawlessly. It works in rain, snow and super-frigid temperatures. It works in the flatlands and the mountains, in urban traffic jams, and on expressways where the majority of drivers are either unaware of or simply unwilling to com-ply with posted speed limits. Certainly, in the case of the car driven for this column, it works efficiently.

I averaged 38 miles per gallon on the highway and 40 in the city, matching the mileage claims made by Toyota’s engineers and marketing people. I did that using regular-grade gasoline, which was selling below $3 per gallon in many East Coast markets when I was driving the car for this column in late December.

I was overjoyed, and a bit confused, until I realised why the Camry deliv-ered better mileage in the city than it

did on the highway. It is the magic of the hybrid, with a petrol engine and an electric motor sharing the work. The 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder gasoline engine handles most of the highway driving chores. An electric motor, pow-ered by a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack, handles most of the work in the city. The magic? There is a seamless transfer of power-sharing responsibili-ties between the two drive systems.

It is easy to like this car. It does

everything that normal drivers, peo-ple who simply want to get from one place to another safely and efficiently, want it to do. But loving the Camry, as so many Camry owners claim they do, also means understanding what the Camry is not.

It is not a high-performance auto-mobile. Nor was it ever designed or engineered to be a high-performance automobile. You don’t buy a Camry to go faster than everyone else on the road. There always will be someone faster. Accept it. Live with it.

You buy a Camry for durable, reli-able everyday family transportation. It gives you that and does so almost flawlessly. The caveat is there because nothing made by humankind is flaw-less. Automobile manufacturing is a global enterprise involving many moving parts. There almost always is a Takata (the Japanese supplier of air bags) somewhere in the mix. But, all things considered, Toyota markets fewer flawed products than most of its rivals. That is why Camry sales con-tinue to climb despite the onrush of bad news about the sometimes deadly failure of Takata air bags, or other problems. The Toyota Camry, itself, is well built and works consistently well. Camry owners believe, with good rea-son, that Toyota will fix whatever is broken if and when it breaks.

That is a peace of mind that not even very clever marketing campaigns can provide. Restyling helps. Toyota has aggressively restyled the Camry’s exte-rior for 2015, much to the applause of Camry devotees. But the main ingre-dients, build quality and reliability, remain in ample supply.

It is a hard combination to beat, which is why I suspect the Toyota Camry will remain a sales leader in its segment for a long time.

WP-Bloomberg

Nuts and BoltsBottom line: The Toyota Camry leads its rival midsize family sedans in

sales for a very good reason. It gives those buyers what they want — safe, reliable, efficient transportation — at a price they find fair and are willing to try to afford.

Ride, acceleration and handling: The Camry Hybrid gets good marks in all three.

Head-turning quotient: The 2015 Camry has been aggressively restyled for 2015. But “aggressively” needs definition here, where it means simply more attractive styling. The Camry still shows best in church and school parking lots.

Body style/layout: The 2015 Camry Hybrid is a midsize, front-wheel-drive family sedan propelled by a gasoline engine and electric motor working in tandem. The electric motor does most of the work in the city. The gasoline engine takes over on the highway. The Camry hybrid is offered in three trim levels — base LE, sporty SE and top-line XLE.

Power system: The Camry Hybrid comes standard with a 2.5-liter, 16-valve in-line four-cylinder gasoline engine with variable valve timing. That engine works in tandem with an electric motor powered by a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. The gasoline-electric combination produces a maximum 200 horsepower, which is transmitted to front drive wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission.

Capacities: Seating is for five people. Cargo capacity is 13.1 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 17 gallons of petrol (regular grade is OK).

Safety: Standard equipment includes four-wheel disc brakes (ventilated front, solid rear); four-wheel anti-lock brake protection; emergency brak-ing assistance; traction and stability control; blind-spot monitoring; post-collision safety system; Entune telematics; dusk-sensing headlamps; and side and head air bags.

Pricing (in US): The 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid SE starts at $29,980. Price as tested is $35,670, including $4,865 in options (advanced electronic safety features, Entune premium audio with onboard navigation and high-definition backup camera, and other items).

Toyota Camry: We keep askingToyota Camry: We keep askingfor it, we keep getting itfor it, we keep getting it

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015 ENTERTAINMENT8 9

By Subhash K Jha

Film: “I”Actors: Vikram and Amy FernandesDirector: Shankar

Let me tell you about an actor called Vikram. In I, which is actually the most excep-tional film of high mainte-nance director Shankar’s

extravagant oeuvre, this exceptional actor, known to transform into what-ever he plays, stands in a room filled with multi-reflective mirrors, looking at his horribly deformed body and dis-figured face.

It is a heart-shattering, glass-shat-tering moment.

It is a moment that would be quoted as an example of what magic a capable actor can create out of melodrama.

Melodrama is certainly Shankar’s forte. His films are not only many sizes larger than life, they are also suffused in excessive exuberance and free-flow-ing rhetoric that do not render them-selves to a proper Hindi translation.

In I, one doesn’t mind the blizzard of bombast and drama. This is Shankar’s most dramatic film to date. Drama has never been a rationed component in his cinema. Here the director, known for his visual flair and vital connect with

the masses, pulls out all stops as he takes us on a colloquial and spectacu-lar visual discourse on the subject of physical beauty and its impact on love.

Do we stop loving a person if he or she becomes physically undesirable? Films like Rajnish Behl’s Soorat Aur Seerat and Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram dealt with the theme of love and physical beauty with varying degrees of effectuality.

In I, Shankar, with his extraordinary command over the grammar and the narrative’s rapid run, goes for the jugu-lar. There is nothing subtle about the way the film’s hero, a state-level wres-tler filled with a boorish pride about his looks and physique, loses it all and becomes hunchbacked and grotesque.

There is a lot of embarrassing hum-bug in the lengthy narration. With that penchant for over-elaborate plotting whereby every component in the characterisations must be ham-mered in repeatedly, the film’s moral map gets tediously fine-printed in the narrative.

The caucus of villains, which oddly includes a cross-dresser who lusts after the hero and then wants him destroyed, gets its comeuppance with infuriating mathematical precision.

But here is the thing — I is none-theless an exceptional film. The main

love story between the disfigured hero and the stunning model (Amy ably cast) gets its core compulsion from The Beauty and The Beast fable. The man-ner in which the relationship grows and then takes a twisted turn, is skillfully manoeuvred by the director.

There is no doubt that Shankar is a remarkable raconteur. His cinema is almost always blessed with a leading man who takes the director’s vision beyond the script. Here, Shankar has an arresting ally in Vikram, whose interpretation of the protagonist’s hor-rific physical change is so palpable as to make every other recent attempt at prosthetic-induced realism look strained.

The film’s most majestic chunks are those where Vikram, playing the deformed avenger stalks dark corri-dors in search of his tormentors. Here is where P C Sreeram’s magic from behind the camera opens its arms and hugs excellence. What we see on screen are visually interpreted themes on the destruction of human faith.

The film neatly balances the beauty of nature against the cruelty of man-kind. The scenes shot in China against the backdrop of thousands of blooming flowers are enchanting in their sum-moned splendour. Watching the beauty of nature in all its glory we know what

they mean when they say time stands still.

Vikram’s courtship of the beautiful Ms Fernandes is taken through various stages of awkward self-assertion, each stage brilliantly covered and crossed by Vikram. The songs by A R Rahman and choreography are breathtaking in their grandeur and eloquence.

Specially outstanding is the fantasy opera where the Beauty is faced with the agonised helplessness of the Beast.

There are many sequences in I which linger in the mind long after the show. I only wish the narrative had avoided banal characters and long drawn epi-sodes of crass mass wooing where the film’s innate excellence is mocked.

Shankar irons out the rough edges with his mesmerising power to hold the character’s bizarre fate in place. Indeed, the film takes us beyond the imaginable and the conceivable, fusing with fabu-lous flamboyance the fantasy element with a level of heightened reality that’s commercial cinema’s forte.

More brilliant than the film is Vikram’s multi-personality perform-ance which holds the film together, loopholes and all. Vikram embraces the grotesque as possessively as the glori-ous. It doesn’t matter which language you speak or think in. Just go for I. It speaks the language of cinema. IANS

BOLLYWOOD NEWS

HOLLYWOOD NEWS

Selma screened at White House

US President Barack Obama hosted a private screening of the his-torical drama film Selma at the White House. It was attended by

a string of celebrities.Guests at the Friday night screening included media mogul Oprah

Winfrey, hip-hop artist Common, director Ava DuVernay, David Oyelowo (who plays Martin Luther King Jr.), Carmen Ejogo (who portrays Coretta Scott King) and Tim Roth (who portrays George Wallace), reports eonline.com.

Winfrey served as a producer for the film, and also portrayed civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper in the movie.

Meanwhile, Common teamed up with singer John Legend for the film’s song, “Glory”, which has already won a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award and is nominated for an Oscar.

The film, which has also been nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, released December 25, 2014.

Crawford wants daughters to be ‘healthy’

Reality TV star Cindy Crawford is dedicated to teaching her two children about having a fit and healthy frame.

The 48-year-old, who has daughters Kaia, 13, and Presley, 15, with her husband Rande Gerber, makes a “conscious” effort to teach the youngsters about having a healthy body, over a stick thin figure.

“If my daughter sees me accepting my body the way it is and not deni-grating myself because I’m not stick thin, or only eating lettuce with no dressing. If she sees I enjoy food, but I also exercise,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Crawford as saying.

“I mean, I don’t sit around with a pint of ice cream watching TV, but at the same time if we all go out for ice cream as a family, I’ll order some. A kiddie-size one, but that’s the way you do it. I’m very conscious that I want (Kaia) to get the right message because what you see in the magazines and on the runways, it is a very thin image,” she added.

Theron wants ‘low-key’ wedding?

Actress Charlize Theron is said to be planning a “low-key” wedding with boyfriend Sean Penn.

The couple reportedly got engaged in November 2014 during a roman-tic trip to Paris. They are now said to be looking to exchange vows on a private beach later in the year with just their close friends and family in attendance, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“She’d love to get married on the beach in her native South Africa, but Sean loves the idea of Cuba,” a source told Life & Style magazine.

“They want a low-key, classic and romantic wedding. They’ve also talked about a sunset ceremony in Malibu - black-tie but barefoot,” the insider added.

Before getting engaged, Theron said last June that she had no desire to ever become a bride.

“Let’s put it this way, I never had the dream of the white dress. And watching other people getting married? I think it’s beautiful for them, but to be quite honest, usually I’m sitting there just devastated,” she had said at that time.

Will again try hand at TV: Big B

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan struck gold with his reality game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, but his attempt at fiction didn’t work well

with Yudh. Undeterred by this, Big B says he will try the genre again, hopefully with something “breakaway”.

Yudh, a psychological thriller directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, was aired in 2014. A 20-episode mini-series, it also featured actors like Sarika, Zakir Hussain, Mona Wasu, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Kay Kay Menon in prominent roles, but didn’t work well with viewers.

Asked what went wrong with Yudh, Big B said: “People didn’t like it, so it didn’t work. Just by acting well things don’t work. People should like the story. They didn’t like that. We will try our hands (at TV) again in future.”

Big B says he is still open to try something interesting on TV.“I’m open to try it if there is something interesting. We did ‘Yudh’,

it didn’t work. When we sat down with Anurag (Kashyap), we felt we need to do something breakaway from the current style of serials. I think that will prevail in the times to come. We made an attempt, we will try again and see how it goes,” he added.

Hawaizaada not a biopic: Ayushmann

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Hawaizaada, says his film is based on the real life story

of scientist Shivkar Bapuji Talpade but it is not a biopic.In the film Ayushmann is playing the role of Shivkar Bapuji Talpade

who is supposed to have constructed and flown India’s first unnamed airplane in 1895.

“I can not term this (Hawaizaada) film as a biopic because nothing is known about this person (Shivkar Talpade). You know about Milkha Singh, You know about Mary Kom (MC Mary Kom), You know about Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), but you don’t know about Shivkar Talpade. So, technically this is not a biopic,” Ayushmann said.

“But, of course it’s based on true events. And I’m sure public will like it,” he added.

Asked what is the best thing about “Hawaizaada”, Ayushmann said: “The best thing about this film is the novelty of the script. The one liner that the guy who made the first aircraft was an Indian. That’s the novelty.”

Directed by Vibhu Puri, Hawaizaada also features Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Sharda in key roles. The film is set to release on January 30, 2015.

Tannishtha, Nawazuddin and Deepti Naval in Hollywood film

Jal actress Tannishtha Chatterjee will soon start shooting for her next Hollywood project Lion, that will also feature other Indian actors like

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Priyanka Bose and Deepti Naval. The shoot will start in Kolkata, yesterday.

The film is an adaptation of the book A Long Way Home written by Indian born Australian businessman Saroo Brierley. The book talks about his separation from his mother and how he was adopted by an Australian family. “The film is based on a real life incident. Its about a lost boy who gets adopted by an Australian pair. Its his journey from Kolkata to Tasmania,” Tannishtha said.

Directed by Garth Davis, the film will be produced by Australia’s See-Saw Films. Although, Tannishtha didn’t reveal much about her role, she said it will definitely be a crucial one and will be a surprise for all.

“My role in the film is pretty crucial. Its a surprise in the story. Its going to be a very changing thing in the plot,” said Tannishtha, whose film Jal has found a place in the Oscar long list of 2014 in two categories — Best Picture and Best Original Score.

The film also stars Hollywood actors Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel.

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

I:I: Vikram makes it Vikram makes it an exceptional filman exceptional film

GREECEPLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 201510

Anci

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exca

vatio

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HEALTH 11PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

By Kathryn Doyle

People who have demanding jobs and job strain are more likely to suffer one type of stroke, a review of previous studies suggests.

Job strain has been linked to heart attack risk in the past, but not necessarily to stroke.

“Previous studies on the association between job strain and stroke have showed mixed results, with some studies showing an associa-tion and others not,” said lead author Eleonor I Fransson of the School of Health Sciences at Jönköping University in Sweden, said.

In this new analysis, which pooled the results of 14 earlier studies from Europe, peo-ple with job strain had an increased risk of so-called ischemic stroke. Ischemic strokes happen when the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen — when, for example, the arteries are clogged.

Fransson, senior author Mika Kivimäki of University College London, and their coau-thors used data from 14 European studies between 1985 and 2008. Altogether, almost 200,000 adults filled out questionnaires about job strain. The studies lasted nine years on average.

Those with a demanding job and little control over their work environments were categorized as having high ‘job strain.’ This accounted for 13 to 22 percent of people, depending on the original study.

In general, out of every 100,000 people in Europe, each year 115 men and 75 women have an ischemic stroke, earlier research has shown.

In the new study, the risk of ischemic stroke was about 24 percent higher for people in the job strain group than for the others.

There was no difference in risk of hemor-rhagic stroke, another common type, in which a blood vessel ruptures and leaks blood into the brain.

High blood pressure, diabetes, high cho-lesterol, and family history of stroke are all important risk factors, but this data was not

available for most people in the new study.The researchers accounted for basic socio-

economic status, which they used as a stand-in for other health risk factors, which lessened the increase in ischemic stroke risk for those with stressful jobs.

“This present study is good contribution but of course the results present more questions,” according to Susanna Toivanen, associate pro-fessor of sociology at the Center for Health Equity Studies in Stockholm, Sweden, who was not part of the new analysis.

Some strokes may have a genetic com-ponent, which may be why the researchers did not find an association with hemorrhagic stroke, Toivanen said.

“The classification is not so exact and they don’t discuss these different types of hemor-rhagic stroke,” she said.

This and other studies do not necessar-ily prove that stressful jobs cause strokes, Fransson noted.

“However, the association is plausible because stress might cause release of stress-related hormones, which in turn affect the metabolic, immunological and cardiovascular systems,” she said. Ischemic stroke, like heart attack, is closely linked to atherosclerosis, the ‘hardening of the arteries,’ she said.

In any case, Fransson and Tovianen agreed that job strain is hard for an individual to change, even if it is increasing his risk for stroke. “Here we have a very big issue because it’s employers’ responsibility to see that work-ing conditions are healthy,” Tovianen said. “Individuals can’t control this.”

Stress is only one of the potential factors at play with stroke risk, Fransson noted.

“The recommendations are to keep track of your blood pressure, do not smoke, eat well, keep a healthy weight and exercise,” Fransson said. “Along with that it may also be good to try to avoid long periods of stress, but we do not currently have evidence from interven-tions to prove this.”

SOURCE: bit.ly/1yrpfw0 Stroke, online January 6, 2015. Reuters

Lab-grown human muscle responds like real

In a path-breaking research, researchers at Duke University have grown human skeletal muscle

in the lab that contracts and responds just like native tissue to external stimuli such as electrical pulses, biochemical signals and pharmaceuticals.

The lab-grown tissue should soon allow researchers to test new drugs and study dis-eases in functioning human muscle outside of the human body. “We are working to test drugs’ effi-cacy and safety without jeopardising a patient’s health and also to reproduce the functional and biochemical signals of diseases including rare ones,” explained Nenad Bursac, associate profes-sor of biomedical engineering at Duke University.

Bursac and Lauran Madden, a post-doctoral researcher in Bursac’s lab, started with a small sample of human cells that had already pro-gressed beyond stem cells but had not yet become muscle tissue. They expanded these “myogenic precursors” by more than a 1000-fold and then put them into a supportive, 3D scaffolding filled with a nourishing gel that allowed them to form aligned and functioning muscle fibres.

Madden subjected the new muscle to a barrage of tests to determine how closely it resembled native tissue inside a human body.

She found that the muscles robustly con-tracted in response to electrical stimuli - a first for human muscle grown in a laboratory.

She also showed that the signalling pathways allowing nerves to activate the muscle were intact and functional. To see if the muscle could be used as a proxy for medical tests, the duo stud-ied its response to a variety of drugs, including statins used to lower cholesterol.

The effects of the drugs matched those seen in human patients. “One of our goals is to use this method to provide personalised medicine to patients,” said Bursac.

“We can take a biopsy from each patient, grow many new muscles to use as test samples and experiment to see which drugs would work best for each person.” The study appeared in the open-access journal eLife.

Living in the hills lowers lung cancer risk

People who live at higher altitudes are less likely to suffer from lung cancer than those

who live in the plains, finds a promising research.As lower pressure at higher elevations results in

less inhaled oxygen, this new study suggests that oxygen in the atmosphere may play a role in lung cancer. While researchers found lower rates of lung cancer at higher elevations, the same trend did not extend to non-respiratory cancers, suggesting that carcinogen exposure occurs via inhalation.

“While essential to human life, aspects of oxy-gen metabolism may promote cancer,” the study noted.

“Viewing our findings through the lens of the literature, atmospheric oxygen emerges as the most probable culprit,” said Kamen Simeonov from Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Oxygen is highly reactive and even when it is carefully and quickly consumed by our cells, it results in reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can lead to cellular damage and mutation, the authors added. The researchers compared cancer incidence rates across counties of the elevation-varying Western US. The study was published in the journal PeerJ.

Agencies

In an analysis, which pooled the results of 14 earlier studies from Europe, people with job strain had an increased risk of so-called ischemic stroke. Ischemic strokes happen when the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen — when, for example, the arteries are clogged.

Stressful jobs may increase stroke risk

TECHNOLOGYPLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 201512

By Stuart Dredge

Games, music and children’s channels ruled the roost on YouTube in 2014, with its most popular chan-nel PewDiePie’s videos

watched more than 4.1bn times last year.

The UK-based gamer – aka Felix Kjellberg – ended the year with more than 33.5 million people subscribing to his YouTube channel, which focuses on “Let’s Play” footage of him play-ing games and providing a running commentary.

PewDiePie was YouTube’s big-gest star in 2014 according to the Guardian’s analysis of monthly charts published by online video industry site Tubefilter, based on data from video analytics firm OpenSlate.

Kjellberg’s channel had the most views for 2014 overall, but second-placed children’s channel DC Toys

Collector was more popular in the last three months of the year, boosting its overall total to 3.3bn views.

Musician Katy Perry had the third most popular YouTube channel in 2014 with nearly 2.4bn views, fuelled by the popularity of the videos for singles including This Is How We Do, Birthday and Dark Horse.

The Guardian’s analysis of the data reinforces the sense of YouTube as a melting pot of old and new media stars.

Shakira (just under 2bn views) and US chat-show host Jimmy Fallon (1.7bn) rub shoulders with Minecraft channels Stampy (2.2bn) and The Diamond Minecart (1.6bn) in the upper reaches of the chart, for example.

Other YouTube kingpins in 2014 included Dutch dance-music channel Spinnin’ Records (2bn); pop-culture focused WatchMojo (1.7bn); musician Enrique Iglesias (1.7bn); wrestling brand WWE (1.6bn); Russian family channel GetMovies (1.7bn); and the

channels for record labels in Thailand (GMM Grammy’s 1.6bn views) and India (T-Series’ 1.6bn).

The figures are also a reminder that some of the most recognisable “stars” of YouTube aren’t among the biggest channels by views.

Prominent American YouTubers like Michelle Phan, Grace Helbig, Tyler Oakley, Connor Franta and Bethany Mota rarely appeared in Tubefilter’s monthly charts of the 100 most popular channels, even though they continued to build solid audiences of subscribers.

Meanwhile British vlogger Zoella’s main channel grew steadily throughout 2014 from 10.9m views in January to 22.4m in December, but its 214m views for the year as a whole were less than a tenth of the biggest British star Stampy’s – PewDiePie is Swedish, although he now lives and works in Brighton.

YouTube remains an incubator for new production companies and online media firms, though. Successes in 2014 included

BuzzFeed Video (1.3bn views), The Fine Brothers (1.3bn) and Smosh (1.1bn).

Meanwhile, children’s nursery rhymes channel Little Baby Bum notched up more than 869m views in the last four months of the year alone, having not previously appeared in Tubefilter and OpenSlate’s chart.

It was the fourth most popular YouTube channel in December, behind only DC Toys Collector, PewDiePie and Taylor Swift, whose channel totalled 1.4bn views for the year despite a quiet first few months when she was record-ing her album ‘1989’.

The charts also reveal the wider growth of YouTube – or at least its most successful channels.

Tubefilter and OpenSlate’s rankings for December 2013 revealed more than 6.9bn views that month for the serv-ice’s top 100 channels, but by December 2014 that figure had grown 91 percent to more than 13.2bn.

The Peninsula

Swedish gamer ruled the YouTube roost with 4.1bn views, as games, children’s channels and music proved most popular for online video viewers.

PewDiePie

Trivia CrackQuiz yourself and show off your smarts

Are you a trivia buff? Do you live to prove your knowledge of the little things? Then it may be time for you to try Trivia Crack.

Like the classic game Trivial Pursuit, the app challenges players with questions in a variety of subjects such as sports, science and history. The app lets you play with friends or strangers.

To be honest, because the questions are user-submitted, they aren’t that challenging, at least in the lower levels. But Trivia Crack is a fun way to pass time and bug your friends — and what else are

apps for, really?One more thing: By design, this game is not fast-

paced. If you get an answer wrong, it becomes your partner’s turn — and a waiting game. Free, for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

SuperMake your status update more colourful

OK, so maybe you feel a little overloaded with social apps. But even if you feel like you can’t write another update, consider Super. This one is pure light, goofy fun.

With bold, almost pop-art design, it asks you to write an update off a prompt such as “The Best” or “The Worst” and to fill in the big blank. Based on what you say, the app assigns your post a photo background, which you can then customise. You can also share your own photos.

When looking at updates, you can check out what your friends say, what people nearby are talk-ing about or what everyone on the app is posting. Swiping to the right shows you the post’s author. Swiping to the left lets you like or share the post.

There’s not much to the app, admittedly. But its encouraging prompts and colorful design make it a fresh way to share what’s on your mind with style. Free, for iOS and Android devices. WP-Bloomberg

Apps for the day

YouTube: PewDiePie, DC Toys Collector and Katy Perry top 2014

COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaJanuary 18, 1996

1778: Captain James Cook discovered the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii1944: The World War II siege of Leningrad was broken by Russian forces after 900 days during which almost one million civilians died1995: Cave paintings around 20,000 years old were discovered in the Ardeche region of southern France2005: The “superjumbo” Airbus A380, capable of carrying as many as 850 passengers, was unveiled

Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson after just 20 months of marriage. They married in secret in the Dominican Republic in May 1994

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

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

BLIZZARD, BREEZE, CHINOOK, CIRROCUMULUS, CIRROSTRATUS, CIRRUS, CLOUDY, COLD, CUMULONIMBUS, CUMULUS, CYCLONE, DOLDRUMS, DRIZZLE, DRY, FAIR, FOG, FREEZING, FROST, HAIL, HARMATTAN, HEATWAVE, HOT, HUMID, HURRICANE, LIGHTNING, MILD, MIST, MISTRAL, MONSOON, NIMBUS, OVERCAST, PRECIPITATION, RAIN, SHOWER, SIROCCO, SLEET, SLUSH, SNOW, STORM, STRATUS, SUNSHINE, THUNDER, TORNADO, TYPHOON, WIND, ZEPHYR.

Baby Blues by Jerry Scott & Rick Kirkman

Zits by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

Sherman's Lagoon by Jim Toomey

LEARN ARABIC

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

Fish

Salmon Salmoon

Tunny Tounn

Sole Samak moosa

Eel �anklees

Shark Qirš

Dolphin Doulfeen

Saw-�sh Samaki alminšar

Pilchard Samaki sardeen

Whale �oot

ç = ‘a’ in ‘agh’ when surprised

HYPER SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 British brew with a red

triangle logo

8 Ones dying in a fire?

14 Book version

15 Permanent-press

16 Neighborhood spot to order 1-Across, say

18 “Ergo” preceder

19 “You should know better!”

20 Scale-busting

22 Up to the task

26 Shoots in the foot, maybe

27 Gore who sang “It’s My Party,” 1963

29 Reason for a road warning

30 Aladdin’s monkey pal

33 “Seinfeld” gal pal

34 Singers Green and Jardine

35 Wimpy sort

37 Denier’s contraction

38 Some advanced degs.

39 Pregame song opener

40 Like dressage horses

41 ___ good deed

42 George Carlin’s “___ With Your Head”

43 The Bulldogs’ sch.

44 Yadda, yadda, yadda

45 ___ niçoise

46 Prefix with economic

48 Actor Montand

49 Quite cunning

53 Gibbon, e.g.

56 “Better luck next time”

57 Place to eighty-six things

61 The golden years

62 Rockefeller Center style

63 Armadillo defenses

64 “Sure, why not?!”

DOWN 1 Boxer’s trophy

2 Commotions

3 Really ill

4 Stop on the tracks: Abbr.

5 Be 3-Down

6 Cut (off)

7 Sufficient, informally

8 Bivouacs

9 Archie Comics character

10 Humongous

11 Holder of a cabinet position

12 ___-Rooter

13 Monet’s “___ Scene at Argenteuil”

17 Like a chrome-dome

21 Half of all flips

23 Unable to see the “E” on the Snellen chart, say

24 Post-Carnival time

25 Batter’s asset

27 Watch readouts, briefly

28 Yale or Root

31 Working away

32 Foreign relief org. created by J.F.K.

36 January 1 song title word

38 Decorator’s theme

39 Kingly name in Norway

41 The 1980s and ’90s, e.g.

42 “Gangnam Style” rapper

47 ___ orange

49 “Freeze!”

50 Veg out

51 Luke Skywalker’s mentor

52 Help in finding fractures

54 Ancient Brit

55 Grandson of Adam

58 “Come as you ___”

59 Block boundaries: Abbr.

60 “Good” cholesterol, briefly

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 64

H U B S A L O H A S S A SA M A T D A N I E L O S US A B E O P E N S O U R C E

Y E G G I D O S T E MA M B L E F L I P P H O N ET Y L E N O L L E F TT O U R D O S S I E RA B E B O O K E N D G A P

M E R R I E R P O S EP E A T D E T R O I T

M A T C H P L A Y S O D A SA R C H O O N S P R YS C H O O L W O R K A E O NS E E F I E S T A T A M EE L S F O R E S T E R G O

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUCartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Easy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

1Elott (2D/Arabic) – 10:15am, 12:15, 2:15, 4:15,

6:15, 8:15, 10:15 & 12:15am

2Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20, 4:30,

6:40, 9:00 & 11:20pm

3The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King

(3D/Animation)– 10:00, 11:40am, 1:20 & 3:00pm13 Sins (2D/Horror) –4:40, 6:40, 8:40 & 11:00pm

4Jack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart

(2D/Animation) – 10:20am, 12:20 & 2:20pm; Zulu (2D/Aciton) – 4:20, 6:30, 8:40 & 10:50pm

5The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King

(2D/Animation) – 12:15, 3:40 & 7:00pmSeventh Son (2D/Adventure)

– 10:15am, 1:40, 5:00, 9:00 & 11:15pm

6We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy)

– 11:00am, 3:15, 7:30 & 11:45pmThe Theory of Everything (2D/Drama)

– 1:00, 5:15 & 9:15pm

7The Imitation Game (2D/Drama)

– 12:30, 4:40, 9:00 & 11:30pmPaddington(2D/Family)–10:40am, 2:45 &7:00pm

8Unborken (2D/Drama)– 10:50am, 3:20 & 7:50pm

Poker Night (2D/Thriller) – 1:15, 5:40, 10:10pm, 12:15am

9Taken 3 (IMAX 2D/Action)

– 10:30am, 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:50pm

10Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 11:00am, 1:10, 3:20, 5:30,

7:45, 10:00pm & 12:15am

MALL

1The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King

(2D/Animation) – 2:30pmJack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart

(2D/Animation) – 4:00pm

Seventh Son (2D/Adventure) – 5.45pm

Taken 3 (2D/Crime) – 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm

2 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00 & 10:15pm

The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King (2D/Animation) – 5:15pm

13 Sins (2D/Horror) – 6:45pm

Elott (2D/Arabic) – 8:30pm

3 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:15pm

Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 5:30pm

Poker Night (2D/Action) – 7:30 & 11:30pm

The Theory of Everything (2D/Drama) – 9:15pm

LANDMARK

1 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00, 7:00 & 10:15pm

Seventh Son (2D/Adventure) – 5.15pm

2Jack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart

(2D/Animation) – 2:30pmThe Snow Queen 2: The Snow King

(3D/Animation) – 4:15pm

Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 5:45, 9:30 & 11:30pm

13 Sins (2D/Horror) – 7:45pm

3 Alone (2D/Horror) – 2:15 & 7:00pm

The Theory of Everything (2D/Drama) – 4:45pm

Elott (2D/Arabic) – 9:30pm

Poker Night (2D/Action) – 11:30pm

ROYAL

PLAZA

1

Jack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2D/Animation) – 3:00pm

Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 5:00, 9:00 & 11:15pm

Sharafat (2D/Hindi) – 7:00pm

2

The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King (2D/Animation) – 2:30 & 4:00pm

Seventh Son (2D/Adventure) – 5.30pm

13 Sins (2D/Horror) – 7:30 & 11:15pm

Sharafat (2D/Hindi) – 9:15pm

3 Poker Night (2D/Action) – 2:30 & 11:30pm

Legend Of The Never Beast (2D/Drama) – 5:00pm

The Theory of Everything (2D/Drama) – 7:00pm

Elott (2D/Arabic) – 9:15pm

CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

15:00 Fiba Basketball

15:30 Auto Speed

Ep.3

16:00 Rugby Glasgow

V Monpellier

18:00 Euro Tries Rnd 4

18:15 Rugby Toulouse

V Bath

20:15 Best Prem Tries

Dec

20:30 Rugby Ospreys

V Northampton

22:30 Nfl Game Day

Xtra

23:00 American

Football

23:15 Nfl Greenbay

Packers

@ Seattle

Seahawks

02:00 Handball

03:00 Tennis

Australian Open

10:00 Ac Mm17 Aus

V Kor

10:30 Epl Saturday

11:30 Asian Cup China

V Dpr Korea

14:30 Henry Special

15:00 Epl Saturday

16:00 Epl West Ham

V Hull, Man

City V Arsenal

21:30 Sunday Night

Live Juventus

V Verona

01:00 Epl Mm4 Mnc

V Ars

13:00 My Boys

13:30 The Simpsons

14:00 How I Met

Your Mother

14:30 2 Broke Girls

15:00 The Goldbergs

16:00 Two And A

Half Men

18:00 Men At Work

19:00 Dads

19:30 The Goldbergs

20:30 Mystery Girls

21:30 Two And A

Half Men

22:00 Saturday Night

Live

12:45 Free Birds

14:15 Speed Racer

16:30 The Happy

Cricket

18:00 The Missing

Lynx

19:45 Barbie

Presents:

Thumbelina

21:00 Speed Racer

23:15 The Happy

Cricket

14:00 Sweet Home

Alabama

16:00 Timer

18:00 Surviving

Christmas

20:00 Hello Ladies:

The Movie

22:00 Cherry

13:00 Dangerous

Encounters

14:00 Live Free Or

Die

15:00 Space Mysteries

16:00 Secret Garden

17:00 Wild Untamed

Brazil

18:00 Ultimate Airport

Dubai

20:00 Secret Garden

21:00 Wild Untamed

Brazil

22:00 Ultimate Airport

Dubai

12:00 Emmerdale

12:30 Coronation

Street

14:00 Psych

16:00 Emmerdale

16:30 Coronation

Street

18:00 Psych

19:00 Castle

20:00 How To Get

Away With

Murder

22:00 The Americans

23:00 Mistresses

02:00 The Americans

03:00 Mistresses

13:00 Stolen Child-

PG15

14:45 Jobs

17:00 Atlas Shrugged

18:45 Nobody Walks

20:15 White Bird In A

Blizzard

22:00 Cloud Atlas

01:00 Atlas

Shrugged-

PG15

03:00 Nobody Walks

13:00 Red Sky

15:00 Dark Tide

17:00 Straight A's

18:45 About Time

21:00 10 Years

23:00 Seven

Psychopaths

01:00 Hick

13:00 Jamai Raja

13:30 Bandhan

14:00 Doli Armaano Ki

14:30 Jodha Akbar

15:00 Kasamh Se

16:00 Hum Paanch

17:00 Parwaaz

18:00 Zee Connect

Season 4

18:30 Bandhan

19:00 Sa Re Ga Ma

Pa Li'l Champs

Season 2

20:00 Look Whos

Talking With

Niranjan

21:00 Qubool Hai

21:30 Satrangi Sasural

22:00 Doli Armaano Ki

22:30 Sapne Suhane

Ladakpan Ke

23:00 Best of Fear Files

00:00 Jodha Akbar

13:05 Binny And The

Ghost

13:30 Girl Meets World

13:55 I Didn't Do It

14:20 Sabrina: Secrets

Of A Teenage

Witch

14:55 Gravity Falls

15:20 Dog With A Blog

15:45 Jessie

16:10 Austin & Ally

16:35 Girl Meets World

17:00 Liv And Maddie

19:30 Binny And The

Ghost

19:55 Gravity Falls

20:20 Wizards Of

Waverly Place

21:10 Hannah Montana

21:35 That's So Raven

22:00 Suite Life On

Deck

22:25 A.N.T. Farm

22:50 Shake It Up

12:15 You Have Been

Warned

13:05 Auction Hunters

13:30 The Liquidator

13:55 Dallas Car Sharks

14:20 Outback Truckers

15:10 Rods N' Wheels

16:00 Fast N' Loud

17:15 How It's Made

17:40 Dual Survival

18:55 Troy

19:45 The Big Brain

Theory

20:35 You Have Been

Warned

21:25 Gold Rush

22:15 Gold Rush

23:05 Alaska: The Last

Frontier

23:55 Troy

00:20 Street Outlaws

01:10 The Fighters

02:00 Fast N' Loud

08:00 News

08:30 People &

Power

09:00 The System

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

12:30 Living The

Language

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Al Jazeera

World

17:00 News

17:30 Listening Post

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:30 101 East

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015

PLUS | SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015 POTPOURRI16

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

IN FOCUS

A rider attempting a stunt on a water scooter at Corniche.

by Robin Saju

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

Eight-foot alligator found at LA home

An 8-foot alligator (pictured) was found next to the carcasses of

two cats in the back yard of a subur-ban Los Angeles home where the rep-tile had been living illegally since the 1970s, authorities said on Thursday.

Animal control officers armed with a search warrant discovered the alligator, estimated to be about 40 years old, in a closed box with the cat remains at the home in Van Nuys, Los Angeles Animal Services Commander Mark Salazar said.

Salazar said Animal Services was conducting a full criminal investiga-tion and called on any residents in the area who have lost small pets at “any time over the last 40 years” to contact the department.

As of Thursday, no arrests had been made or charges filed. Keeping wild animals without a permit is ille-gal in Los Angeles.

Ron Gorecki told the Los Angeles Times in an interview that he had helped his sister care for the alliga-tor, named Jaxson, since her husband,

its original owner, died last year. “We tried to give him a good home,” Gorecki told the paper, adding that the animal was his brother-in-law’s “pride and joy.”

Gorecki told the Los Angeles Daily News that Jaxson fed on “chicken, hot dogs, stuff of that nature – nothing live,” leaving the family’s cats alone.

“Basically what they’re trying to say is that we’re taking our cats and feeding them to our alligator,” Gorecki told the newspaper. “That’s not what happened. There’s never been a complaint, never been a problem.”

Gorecki could not be reached for comment.

Animal control officials had searched the home late last year after receiving a tip about a large alligator there, but didn’t find anything. When they returned this week, the resident, who was not identified, wouldn’t let them in, so officials came back with

the warrant, Salazar said. The alliga-tor was taken to the Los Angeles Zoo.

Man delivers one pizza and gets $2,084 tip

Now that’s a special delivery! A group of real estate agents

meeting in Ann Arbor surprised a man by giving him a $2,084 tip for delivering one pizza on Thursday.

The man, identified only as Rob, was stunned and said on video, “All I did was deliver pizza.”

Agents from Keller Williams Realty all pitched in while attending the company’s regional conference. Stacey McVey says they wanted to show their appreciation to someone from the service industry.

Besides cash, the man received a Visa gift card, lottery tickets and let-ters of encouragement.

Brian LeFevre, delivery manager at Pizza House in Ann Arbor, says the lucky delivery man was “ecstatic.” He says “that’s a pretty good day’s work” for just one pizza.

Agencies

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

Events in Qatar

MBA for KidsWhen: January 23 & 24 (full day workshops)Where: MBM Qatar Training Center at Abu Hamour What: The internationally acclaimed MBA for Kids workshop will be held for the second time in Qatar. The programme aims at unleashing the true potential of the brain of children aged 8 - 16 and enable them overcome various challenges they face in academics and life. Pre-registration required.Cost: QR 2,200 (includes cost of material, kit bags, uniform, lunch and refreshments, parent guides etc) Sibling discounts apply. More information at www.mbmqatar.com

Family Art Workshops When: Till March 31, 2015 Where: Katara Art Studios - Bldg 19What: Katara Art Studios is hosting a series of Diverse Family Art Workshops from September 2014 to March 2015. They invite families to attend with their children aged between 5 years old to 10 years old.The cost of each workshop is QR150

Shirin Neshat: Afterwards When: Till February 15, 2015 Where: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art What: The first solo exhibition in the Middle East by internationally acclaimed artist Shirin Neshat. Occupying the entire ground floor galleries, the exhibition features existing and newly produced works. Free admission

The Tiger’s Dream: Tipu Sultan When: Till January 24Where: Museum Of Islamic Art What: This exhibition delves into the life of Tipu Sultan, the South Indian ruler, statesman, and patron. Drawn entirely from the MIA collection, and featuring many objects which have never been displayed in Qatar, the centerpiece is a group of 24 paintings showing Tipu’s victory at the Battle of Pollilur in 1780.Free entry

Yousef Ahmad: Story of ingenuity When: Nov 11- Feb14; 10am-8pmWhere: Qatar Museums Gallery, Building 10, Katara What: As a pioneer of Qatar’s modern art movement, Yousef Ahmad’s artistic journey has spanned over three decades, and his work has been influenced by his surroundings and emotional ties with Qatar’s culture and traditions. It showcases three phases in his career, from the early oil paintings that include the depiction of Al Zubarah Fort, to mixed media calligraphic pieces to new conceptual artworks.Free Entry