Kamala Harris' challenge in a 2020 presidential bid? Defining ...

CommunityMary B, the debut novel of

Katherine J Chen, is a charming homage to Pride and Prejudice.

P6 P16 CommunityA diverse mix of people from African

countries recently enjoyed upbeat music at the Mövenpick Hotel Doha.

The candidateCOVERSTORY

Kamala Harris’ challenge in a 2020 presidential bid?

Defining herself before her opponents do. P4-5

Tuesday, August 7, 2018Dhul-Qa’da 25, 1439 AH

Doha today 350 - 450

POP SPOT SHOWBIZ

Dan + Shay,

a successful duo.

4

My daughter comes fi rst,

says Aishwarya.

Page 15

Tuesday, August 7, 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“Success is

the result of perfection, hard work, learning from

failure, loyalty, and persistence.”— Colin Powell

The Spy Who Dumped MeDIRECTION: Susanna FogelCAST: Justin Theroux, Blanka Györfi -

Tóth, Vilma SzécsiSYNOPSIS: The Spy Who Dumped

Me tells the story of Audrey (Kunis) and Morgan (McKinnon), two best

friends who unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers the love interest who dumped her was actually a spy. Audrey’s ex-boyfriend shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly

assassins on his trail. The duo jumps into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins, as they hatch a plan to save the world.

THEATRE: The Mall, Landmark, Royal Plaza

Chi La SowDIRECTION: Rahul RavindranCAST: Sushanth, Ruhani Sharma, Vennela Kishore |SYNOPSIS: Arjun (Sushanth) is a Salman Khan fan, and

much like his inspirations, wants to remain a bachelor for life. But will his friends and mother let him achieve this

‘dream’ in peace’? Certainly no. While Arjun doesn’t want to get married, his parents set up a blind date for him at his place. The story revolves around Arjun, how he falls for the girl he’s about to meet, why and how he changes his decision to get married.

THEATRES: The Mall, Landmark

PRAYER TIMEFajr 3.40amShorooq (sunrise) 5.04amZuhr (noon) 11.40amAsr (afternoon) 3.08pmMaghreb (sunset) 6.18pmIsha (night) 7.48pm

The Mall Cinema (1): Chi La Sow (Telugu) 2:15pm; Fanney Khan (Hindi) 4:30pm; Buy Bust (Tagalog) 7pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 9:15pm; Fanney Khan (Hindi) 11:15pm.The Mall Cinema (2): Koode (Malayalam) 2pm; Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 4:45pm; Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 6:15pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 7:45pm; Shock And Awe (2D) 9:45pm; The Spy Who Dumped Me (2D) 11:30pmThe Mall Cinema (3): Patrick (2D) 2pm; Karwaan (Hindi) 4pm; Karwaan (Hindi) 6:30pm; Mission Impossible 6: Fall Out (2D) 8:45pm; Mission Impossible 6: Fall Out (Telugu) 11:30pm.Landmark Cinema (1): Karwaan

(Hindi) 2:15pm; Koode (Malayalam) 4:30pm; Karwaan (Hindi) 7:15pm; The Spy Who Dumped Me (2D) 9:30pm; Koode (Malayalam) 11:30pm.Landmark Cinema (2): Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 2:30pm; Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 4:150pm; Patrick (2D) 6pm; Mission Impossible 6: Fall Out (2D) 8pm; Karwaan (Hindi) 11pmLandmark Cinema (3): Chi La Sow (Telugu) 2:30pm; Buy Bust (Tagalog) 5pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 7:15pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 9:30pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 11:30pm.

Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (1): Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2D) 3pm; Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 5pm; Patrick (2D) 6:30pm; Mission Impossible 6: Fall Out (3D) 8:30pm; The Spy Who Dumped Me (2D) 11:15pm.Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (2): Koode (Malayalam) 2:15pm; Fanney Khan (Hindi) 5pm; Fanney Khan (Hindi) 7:15pm; Shock And Awe (2D) 9:30pm; Koode (Malayalam) 11:15pm.Royal Plaza Cinema Palace (3): Leo Da Vince: Mission Monalisa (2D) 2pm; Patrick (2D) 3:30pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 5:15pm; Harb Karmoz (Arabic) 7:30pm; The Ashram (2D) 9:45pm; Our House (2D) 11:30pm

3Tuesday, August 7, 2018 GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYROUND & ABOUT

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

EVENTS

HEC Paris MasterclassWHERE: 15th fl oor, Tornado TowerWHEN: September 9TIME: 5pm – 7pm HEC Paris is organising ‘The Journey of

Innovation: From the Innovator to Eco-systemic Innovation’, an opportunity to learn more about company innovation with HEC Paris Associate Professor Frederic Dalsace, MSc from HEC and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and both MSc and a PhD Management from INSEAD.

Summer Sessions with Evolve and Westin

WHERE: The Westin Doha Hotel and SpaWHEN: Ongoing till August 25TIME: 9am – 1pmEnjoy a morning of moving, eating and

feeling well with a 60 minutes yoga session balanced with healthy breakfast bites followed by time to revitalise by the pool. Stimulate the rest of your day through culinary experiences with the added 20% discount in all the restaurants and café.

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.

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’ fl owing 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 fi nal performance is scheduled to be on 15 September as a fl ashmob.

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

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

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 fi lled programme from July 16 – August 15. This camp led by a multinational team will enhance empathy, teamwork, and friendships

between the diff erently 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 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 fi ve-a-side football pitches

WHERE: Aspire ZoneWHEN: DailyTIME: 7pm – 11pmAspire Zone’s fi ve-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 infl uenced each other. It aims to show the transcultural value of narrative traditions as a shared intangible cultural heritage and highlight mutual infl uences, shared ideas and cultural transfer between the Arab world and Germany through storytelling and tales.

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.


COMMUNITY COVER STORY

Kamala who?She’s embraced a high-profile role in confronting the Trump administration, from

her sharp questioning of cabinet off icials in public hearings to fiery speeches.

She is also releasing a book about her political vision, writes Sarah D. Wire

A strong, accomplished African-American

woman is in many ways the thing that keeps the

president up at night

—Jesse Ferguson, former

Hillary Clinton campaign

spokesman

‘’S

hortly after she won a seat in the US Senate in 2016, Kamala Harris said she expected to follow the traditional freshman

lawmaker playbook: “Listen and watch, and kind of get a lay of the land.”

Far from keeping her head down, however, California’s junior senator has put herself way out front.

She’s embraced a high-profi le role in confronting the Trump administration, from her sharp questioning of Cabinet offi cials in

public hearings to fi ery speeches on the National Mall. In January she’s releasing a book about her political vision.

And for someone who doesn’t have to be on the ballot again until 2022, Harris is devoting a lot of money to building a national profi le. Her Senate campaign spent $4 million in the past year and a half, including $1.6 million to Revolution Messaging, the consulting fi rm that built Senator Bernie Sanders’ widely praised digital and branding strategy.

Harris won’t say whether she’s

running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But nearly everyone thinks she will.

Her fi rst — and perhaps greatest — challenge is introducing herself to American voters outside of California who know little about the 53-year-old beyond early comparisons to President Barack Obama. And Harris needs to move fast. Her political rivals — in the GOP and within her own party — are already trying to put their own, less fl attering stamp on Harris.

The branding eff ort portrays her

as a Beltway outsider, a progressive with a compelling personal story and a tough former prosecutor who won’t shy from President Donald Trump’s attacks. When the White House tweeted its fi rst-ever personal attack against Harris last month, saying her criticism of Trump’s border policies equated to supporting criminal gangs, Harris wasted no time snapping back, accusing the president of “ripping babies from their mothers,” a reference to his immigrant family separation policy.

“A strong, accomplished African-

American woman is in many ways the thing that keeps the president up at night,” said former Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson. “It is a bit of his nightmare.”

So far Trump hasn’t given Harris a demeaning Twitter nickname, as he has for other possible Democratic 2020 contenders like Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and former Vice President Joe Biden. In fact, Trump hasn’t mentioned Harris at all from his personal Twitter account. But it’s only a matter of time.

GATECRASHING: “She has broken through into one of the highest and most powerful white men’s club in the world,” says Debbie Walsh, director of Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics.


COMMUNITYCOVER STORY

“You can bet the Trump campaign … will pour an enormous amount of resources into defi ning her,” said former Ted Cruz presidential campaign spokesman Ron Nehring.

This isn’t exactly the kind of fi rst term Harris was expecting. A Hillary Clinton victory in 2016 was supposed to give the former California attorney general eight years to craft a legislative record in the Senate, forge alliances and prepare for a White House bid. But Trump’s surprise win fast-tracked Harris’ political calculations. She declined to be interviewed by the Los Angeles Times for this article.

Compared to the more cautious style she displayed as California’s top law enforcement offi cer and during her tightly controlled 2016 Senate campaign, Harris these days seems more at ease in her own skin, impassioned and unapologetically liberal.

She’s warmed to speaking to crowds. Her belly laugh is booming and she’s quick to touch people on the shoulder or arm. She’s mobbed after every speaking event, and despite staff and reporters trying to gain her attention, the senator usually insists on speaking with nearly everyone who approaches her.

“Whenever she enters a room, all heads turn,” said Claremont McKenna College politics professor John J. Pitney, who is also a former state Republican leader. “It’s the same kind of quality that Reagan had and Bill Clinton and a few others have, and she’s got it.”

Daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father and an Indian immigrant mother, she speaks often of her “stroller’s eye view” of the civil rights movement as a child in Berkeley, and how her parents’ activism inspired her to work for change from inside the political system.

In recent months she’s focused on female voters — in a lengthy article in Vogue, an opinion piece on net neutrality in Cosmopolitan magazine and the obligatory dance-off with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who lobbed softball questions like who was her childhood crush. (It was the Jackson Five’s Tito.) In Oprah Winfrey-esque style, Harris this year began calling on liberals to channel their frustration with Trump into becoming “joyful warriors.”

“She is able to blend a real progressive agenda and an exciting profi le and a strong presence together in a way that is catching attention,” Ferguson said.

Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer calls Harris “a fresh voice.”

At the same time, Harris’ rivals — including Republicans and some within Sanders’ wing of the Democratic Party — are striving to defi ne the senator for their own purposes.

Conservatives cast Harris as a typical San Francisco liberal, deeply partisan and out of touch with Middle America.

Perhaps nothing better encapsulates the battle to defi ne Harris than her dogged, rapid-fi re questioning of Trump administration offi cials during Senate hearings. Clips of the former prosecutor coolly facing down Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then-Homeland Security

Secretary John F. Kelly, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and others have become hits on YouTube, circulated by her supporters and detractors.

“Let me fi nish once,” a frustrated Kelly, now the White House chief of staff , said during one hearing as she peppered him with questions. “Excuse me,” Harris replied. “I’m asking the questions.”

Her relentless examination of Sessions left the former Alabama senator visibly shaken. “I am not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous,” he said.

The left crowed at the image of a black woman asking tough, detailed questions and demanding straight answers. Her appearances

have not only helped introduce Harris to a national audience, they’ve underscored the image she is cultivating as assertive and unfl appable.

“She has broken through into one of the highest and most powerful white men’s club in the world,” said Debbie Walsh, director of Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics.

But Harris’ detractors have used the same hearings to portray her as a bully. Her questioning at hearings has been frequently interrupted by white, male GOP colleagues, who complain that she is badgering Trump offi cials or refusing to let them answer. Her response to being admonished by one GOP committee

chairman for her lack of “courtesy” — raising her eyebrows and blinking in disbelief — became a wildly popular GIF.

On the Internet, Trump supporters have used such episodes to attack Harris in ugly, often sexist or racist terms. Former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said on CNN that Harris’ grilling of Sessions was “hysterical.”

Such attacks can backfi re. Many women quickly criticised Miller’s loaded language in describing Harris’ questioning, which they said was not much diff erent from that of her male Democratic colleagues.

“A lot of the gendered stereotypes and the gendered assumptions will still exist for the women in 2020,”

Walsh said. “It is such a double standard.”

Harris’ time as a prosecutor and as California attorney general is another defi ning part of her narrative and potential appeal to independent and moderate voters. She references the experience in nearly every speech and has become a leading voice in the Senate on criminal justice reform.

“If I were writing speeches for her I would write speeches emphasising all the crooks she put in jail,” Pitney said. “That appeals to everyone. That is one topic she has some credibility on.”

But Republican operatives are salivating over the chance to dig into her record, including an incident in the fi rst few months of her tenure as San Francisco district attorney when Harris declined to pursue the death penalty against a gang member who killed San Francisco police Offi cer Isaac Espinoza.

Harris, who opposes the death penalty, was lambasted for the decision. She held her ground and eventually secured multiple life sentences for the shooter.

Nehring, the former Cruz spokesman, said any attempt to play up her law enforcement credentials and cast Harris as tough on crime will be countered quickly with ads depicting her as soft on criminals and weak on the death penalty.

“What is the likelihood that that will wind up on a TV spot in Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin? I would say probably say 100 percent,” Nehring said. “That fi ts very well into a narrative that she is a left-wing coastal elitist.”

Harris is also having to fend off attacks from the other side of the political spectrum. To win the Democratic nomination, she will fi rst need to defeat other likely 2020 Democratic contenders, like Warren and Sanders, favourites of the progressive movement.

Some Sanders’ supporters never forgave Harris for her early endorsement of Clinton in the 2016 primary, or for the Clinton donors and supporters who have rallied around her since. They argue she’s too “establishment.” Some, hoping to clear the way for Sanders to make another run, have launched a Twitter hashtag #NeverKamala, casting her as too corporate and too beholden to Wall Street. They point to her decision against prosecuting OneWest Bank, then led by Steven Mnuchin, for alleged foreclosure violations in 2013, and acceptance later of a $2,000 campaign contribution from Mnuchin. She later voted against his confi rmation as Trump’s Treasury secretary.

Harris has worked hard since joining the Senate to bolster her progressive credentials. She has co-sponsored tuition-free college legislation and was the fi rst senator to sign onto Sanders’ Medicare for All bill. In February, she was one of three Democrats to vote against a bipartisan bill to help immigrants brought to the country illegally when they were children because she thought the measure went too far in providing money for a border wall. Earlier this year she announced she would no longer accept donations from corporations. —Los Angeles Times/TNS

Perhaps nothing better encapsulates the battle to define Harris than her dogged, rapid-fire questioning

of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings. Clips of the former prosecutor coolly facing down Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then-Homeland

Security Secretary John F. Kelly, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and others have become

hits on YouTube, circulated by her supporters and detractors

CROWD-PULLER: Kamala Harris’s belly laugh is booming and she’s quick to touch people on the shoulder or arm. She’s mobbed after every speaking event, and despite staff and reporters trying to gain her attention, the senator usually insists on speaking with nearly everyone who approaches her.


COMMUNITY BOOK REVIEW

By Charles Finch

Do other readers, now and then, spend a fl eeting moment feeling anxious for Lydia Wickham? The last we see of her she is married to a spendthrift rake; her eldest

sister, Jane Bingley, will receive her, you feel sure, but it would be awkward for everyone involved if she and Wickham were to visit Pemberley. How much better had she married someone loving and stable.

If all of that is incomprehensible to you, then you are not one of the millions of people devoted to Pride and Prejudice, whether on page or screen. If, though, you nodded along, you are the prime target for Mary B is a charming and smart if uneven debut by Katherine J. Chen, about another of the fi ve sisters at the heart of Jane Austen’s unsurpassable comedy of manners.

Mary is the middle Bennet sister. In Pride and Prejudice, her role is to embarrass her elder sisters in front of Bingley and Darcy with her self-serious attempts at the piano, while serving as an object of sport for her younger ones, Kitty and Lydia, as they fl ing themselves at various army offi cers. Chen, to her credit, realises that Mary is thus, given her lack of any real interiority, highly malleable.

In Mary B, she narrates herself into being. Her defi ning trait is her lack of beauty. “I’d realised early on in life that most people did not look at me for any longer than they needed to,” she says. But her inner life, as Chen imagines it, is exceedingly rich, a bit prim at the outset but evolving rapidly as she gains experience. Eventually she becomes what might seem inconceivable, given her origins. The book is addressed, in its fashion, “To anyone who has ever doubted that the

sour little creature sitting on the side-lines of the ball isn’t capable of the same purity of love as her two esteemed sisters.”

Mary B is a book that aims fi rst to illuminate what it’s like to be unbeautiful, overlooked, and yet to feel love as passionately as the beautiful do. But it also hopes to refract the characters we’re sure we know so intimately from Pride and Prejudice. The angelic Georgiana Darcy, for example, comes off pretty badly. In its opening chapters, it combines these aims in the fi gure of Mr Collins, whom readers will remember as Lizzie Bennet’s risible early suitor, a minor clergyman obsessed with his benefactress, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

In fact, his strongest connection at Longbourn, Chen shrewdly hazards, might easily have been with the intellectual Mary, and in the book’s best passage Mr Collins provides his excruciating back story, which goes a long way toward explaining his obsequious nature.

In the book’s later stages, Mary goes to Pemberley, and there it is fi rst the amiable Colonel Fitzwilliam “ugly little thing, aren’t you?” he greets her and later the daunting Darcy himself whose ambiguous but potentially amorous attentions she attracts.

Mary B is imperfect. There’s a strong hint of fan fi ction to Mary’s fairly rapid trek toward changing love interests. Chen is also an erratic ventriloquist. Sometimes she fi nds a true Austenian pitch Mr Collins describes Rosings Park “to the minutest detail, so as to leave nothing, not even a single bush or daisy, to the autonomy of the imagination” but elsewhere she misses it badly.

More complicated, her readings of Austen’s characters can be weak. She deepens Mary at the expense of Lizzie, for instance, who turns vain and boring, buying “items she would most certainly have ridiculed” before her marriage.

Darcy becomes unctuous in a way impossible to reconcile with what we know of him. And Chen positively annihilates poor Charlotte Lucas, to doubtful ends, Charlotte being one of the most painful, sympathetic and loveliest characters in Pride and Prejudice.

Yet for all that, Mary’s narration is a heedless downhill pleasure, plush, ironic and illuminating. And indeed, it’s a compliment to say that Mary B fails its model in fresh,

readable ways. Pride and Prejudice survives the rainbow of its imitators and interpreters: an impossible masterpiece, at once as solid as a hundred-year old oak and as sensitive as such a tree’s fl uttering outermost leaves. To pay it even fair homage, as Chen does with Mary’s story, is a triumph, since nobody could actually match Jane Austen. That is or should be a truth universally acknowledged.– Newsday/TNS

Mary B is a charming ode to Pride and Prejudice

The book aims to illuminate what it’s like to be unbeautiful, overlooked,

and yet to feel love as passionately as the beautiful do

IMPERFECT: Mary B is imperfect. There’s a strong hint of fan fiction to Mary’s fairly rapid trek towards changing love interests.

DEBUT: It is a charming and smart if uneven debut by Katherine J. Chen, about another of the five sisters at the heart of Jane Austen’s unsurpassable comedy of manners.


COMMUNITYROYALTY

How King Philippe won the hearts of Belgians

By Lisa Forster

Shyness can be a strength and so can reservedness, as Belgium’s King Philippe has shown over the past fi ve years. When

he was enthroned on July 21, 2013, many Belgians were sceptical. Contrary to his father, Albert II, Philippe was seen as being stiff and awkward, anything but articulate.

But while the 58-year-old retains some of that reputation, Belgians have accepted him as he is, says Belgian aristocracy expert Brigitte Balfoort. “The last fi ve years have gone smoothly,” she adds. That is not due only to Belgians simply getting used to Philippe’s style, but also to his masterful handling of the unexpected political challenges that the country has been forced to face in recent years.

When suicide bombings killed more than 30 people in Belgium in March 2016, Philippe resolutely

condemned the attacks and called on his subjects to respond with ‘determination, calmness and dignity.’ His address to the nation was a rare occurrence in Belgium, where it is not usual for kings to make such statements on current events.

A year later, Philippe then impressed many during an offi cial memorial ceremony for the victims, when he said: “Let us learn to listen to each other again, to respect each other’s weaknesses and to put them right. And above all, let us dare to be tender.”

He seems to have found the right tone, and his much-criticised reservedness is now interpreted as gentleness and thoughtfulness. “Philippe is present, with his usual reserve, but with a sensitivity that clearly shows in each of his gestures,” journalist Sophie Lagesse wrote in the magazine Soir Mag in early July 2018.

Attending between 200 and 300 offi cial events annually, Philippe is there for his people, Lagesse said,

describing his reign as “one of the most positive.” Philippe had already showed a capacity for tactfully handling demanding situations after the parliamentary elections four years ago. The Belgian king has little power, but he plays an important role as an intermediary when governments are being put together.

Philippe did not get involved in the public political debates, but instead worked with his advisers behind the scenes to prevent the situation from sliding into chaos.

It took a little more than four months of negotiations to agree on a government, considerably less than in 2010-11, when a similar procedure lasted 1.5 years under Albert II, and the country threatened to split in two between the Flemish-Dutch speaking Flanders to the north and the French-speaking Wallonia to the south.

The internal division between Belgium’s two language and cultural groups is a constant challenge to the king, and it explains his

cautiousness in choosing his words, according to Balfoort. “He has to weigh his words carefully, always having to speak Dutch and French in equal proportions. He must take care not to say one word more in one of the languages than in the other.” That is one of the ways in which the king tries to unite the country, Balfoort said.

The seventh king of the Belgians studied political science at university and is also a fi ghter pilot and long-distance runner. In 1999, he married the then-countess Mathilde in a match fi tting for the social standing of both of them; the aff able Mathilde often seems like the charming better half of the stiff Philippe.

In private, however, both of them are serious-minded people, says Balfoort. “They hate it when people gossip about them. But people also want to see beautiful clothes and glamour and the Dutch royal couple is clearly better at that.” The Belgian royal couple is less approachable, Lagesse says.

“The Belgian monarchs retreat into a sometimes incomprehensible silence, communicating in an extremely withdrawn manner.”

As parents, Philippe and Mathilde are down-to-earth, taking their four children to school themselves. Elisabeth, 16, is fi rst in line to the throne. Philippe’s own childhood was far from rosy, according to Balfoort. “He did not grow up in a warm family. It should never be forgotten that the children practically brought themselves up,” Balfoort adds.

She is referring to the past of Philippe’s parents, Albert and Paola. Philippe is very diff erent. “People always say he is the hardest-working person in the palace,” Balfoort observes. The king does not want to be known for his glamour, but for what he is able to accomplish, the expert says.

Philippe will face another challenge in 2019, when Belgium holds new parliamentary elections, and the unity between Flanders and Wallonia will again be put to test. – DPA

He is a monarch without pomp and splendour, and still a bit reserved in

public even after five years on the throne. Despite that, the Belgians

have come to accept King Philippe and appreciate his reservedness

ROYAL FAMILY: The Belgian royal family, Queen Mathilde and King Philippe with children in a family photograph.

RESPECT: Belgian King Philippe seems to have found the right tone, as his much-criticised reservedness is now interpreted as gentleness and thoughtfulness.


COMMUNITY TRA

By Pam LeBlanc

Armed with all my regular outdoor gear, plus special tent stakes for the sand, 4 gallons of water and enough sunscreen to slather an elephant, I headed to

the Texas coast recently to find out what it’s like to camp on the beach.

Until then, I’d left seaside camping to people who don’t mind wallowing in sweat and grit. But I love to sleep in a tent, and when a group of friends who have been surfing together since the early 1980s invited me to join them, I couldn’t resist.

Six of us met in Port Mansfield, and then paid a fishing guide to shuttle us out to the cut between North and South Padre Islands. Two others drove up the beach from South Padre Island, a three-hour jaunt over soft sand that requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

“One of the things about camping on the beach is you have to not mind being sticky with saltwater and sand everywhere and crunchy dinners,” freelance photographer Erich Schlegel tells me. He’s right, and I’ve come mentally prepared. In my book, it’s kind of fun to skip the shower and embrace the dirt now and then.

As we step off the boat and unload coolers, duffel bags and folding chairs onto a sweet, crescent-shaped beach next to the channel, I scout a spot to set up my tent. It’s windy. I hope the oversize stakes for which I made

a special trip to, will keep my sleeping quarters from taking flight.

Five of my camping compadres met nearly four decades ago, during their high school days in Brownsville. They learned to surf together and now plan the occasional outing to catch some waves and, with any luck, some fish. Two others melded into the group more recently.

I’m the only woman among them. Now, as I pop up my tent and slide my cooler inside to help anchor it in place in the gale-force breeze, the guys assemble fishing rods and wade out into the channel in search of supper.

I take a look around. Beyond our protected corner of the beach, the jetty, made of giant blocks of pink and grey granite, juts out into the ocean.

I hop down the structure and discover that every crack and crevice is filled with trash discarded water bottles, flip-flops, torn bags, old beach umbrellas and broken bits of plastic. It’s the only downside to an otherwise gorgeous setting and reminds me that we all need to cut back on our use of disposable stuff.

Beyond the jetty, a caramel-coloured beach stretches to the horizon. Four or five other groups are camped on that side, sun shelters deployed and fishing lines like silver threads stretching to the surf. I look out to sea; the ocean glints like a mirror.

I clamber back over to our side just in time to watch Schlegel reel in a nice-size speckled trout, which will wind up in a skillet with a little onion and garlic. It also turns out to

Camping on thDespite the minor discomforts, beach cam

sunrises and sunsets, for one, sand

ESSENTIALS: The shade structure is vital for the mdrinking and cooking and a first-aid kit.BEST WAVE: Mansfield, because of the length of the jetty and sandbar, is typically the best wave in Texas.

SPOTTED: A shore bird spotted on the rocks along the channel at Mansfield Cut.

9GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYTuesday, August 7, 2018

AVEL

be the only fish of the weekend. A few sea turtles bob near the rocks of the jetty, and birds on stilt like legs fish along the shore.

After a few hours of fishing, the guys convene beneath a shade structure, a vital piece of beach camping equipment, plop down in folding chairs and sip cold drinks as they reminisce about high school and past surfing trips. For this group, reconnecting with old friends means as much as surfing, fishing and camping.

“The fact that here we are in our 50s, it’s a pretty special thing,” Schlegel says. “We’re not just sitting around watching a Facebook video. We’re still doing the same thing we were doing in our teens, and it’s active.”

We discuss the differences between inland camping and beach camping. A long-sleeve shirt to keep the sun off is a must, plus long pants to protect against mosquitoes at night. That shade structure is vital for the middle of the day, when the sun beats down, and since there are no amenities here you need to haul plenty of water for drinking and cooking. Remember a first-aid kit, too, since Mansfield Cut is fairly remote. You can, however, get a cell signal if you stand in just the right spot on the jetty.

“If you don’t like to be gritty and sandy, don’t do it,” says Neil Haub, 52, who runs a logo merchandising company in Pflugerville.

Despite the minor discomforts, beach camping comes with its own payoffs: beautiful sunrises and sunsets, for one, sand dollars to collect and birds to watch. And, I’m told, the sweetest surfing spot in Texas, when conditions are right.

“It’s always an adventure. You never know what you’re going to find,” says Carlos Nunez, a packaging broker who lives in Brownsville.

He and Rodrigo Esparza made the three-hour drive up the beach from South Padre Island, a shovel and extra provisions packed in their truck for emergencies. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, you get stuck easily,” he warns. This time they encountered no troubles in the soft sand, parked on the south side of the cut and paddled, with their gear, across the channel on surfboards.

By the following morning, the surf has picked up. Mother Nature has decided to deliver some good waves. The guys pull out their boards, carry them over the rocky outcropping, wade into the water and paddle out.

“The thing about Mansfi eld is because of the length of the jetty and sandbar, this is typically the best wave in Texas,” says Schlegel, who started surfi ng at South Padre Island in 1979. The vibe diff ers from more high-profi le surf destinations like California or Hawaii. “It’s more chill. There’s the sense in the line-up it’s not competitive like it is other places.”

Here, waves arrive in tight sets crafted by the wind. The campers spend a few hours catching 3- and 4-footers, hooting and hollering as they zip down the line of the breaking waves. They’re the only surfers in sight, which is typical.

“Being as isolated as it is, we usually have it to ourselves because it is a trek to get here,” Nunez says.

The group spends the rest of weekend alternating between fishing, surfing and loafing. The wind blows, the waves lap and the rods dip in and out of the water. And that’s the appeal here: nothing flashy or luxurious, just good friends, the orange, setting sun, a coastal breeze and stories to tell.

“Oh, man, getting together with old friends, childhood friends you don’t see that often. That’s the main thing. All this other

stuff is bonus,” Haub says.This crew will return.

If you go

The ride takes about 45 minutes, depending on conditions. Beach camping is allowed at Mansfi eld Cut, but there are no facilities or fresh water. Bring water, a shovel and toilet paper, and pack out all trash.– Austin American-Statesman/TNS

he sandy coastline of Texasmping comes with its own payoff s: beautiful

dollars to collect and birds to watch

middle of the day, when the sun beats down, along with plenty of water for

UNWIND: The groups that visit the coastline mostly unwind during the weekend alternating between fishing, surfing and loafing.

SCENIC: Beyond the jetty, a beautiful caramel-coloured beach stretches to the horizon with breathtaking views.


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

Review your day as you watch the sunset and observe the clouds

turning from white to purple, Aries. Make sure that your head is in

tune with your heart. Think about the day’s emotions and thought

patterns and how they aff ected your actions. Determine if your

actions were a result of either your rational mind or fluctuating

moods.

Your world may seem rather tight and rigid this morning, Cancer,

but the good news is that diff iculties are apt to melt away as the day

progresses. Don’t assume that opinions are fixed in stone. Things

can change in an instant. Even if they seem one way at one point,

more than likely they're going to manifest themselves completely

diff erently later.

Things seem to be going quite well for you in many respects,

Libra. Your thinking is clear, your emotions are under control, and

the puzzle pieces are fitting into place. This is your time to take

advantage of these pockets of good fortune and turn them into

something huge. You have the power to make anything happen -

especially now.

Tempers may get hot today when someone says something that

pierces you to your core. Address this problem right away, Capricorn,

instead of letting it fester through the rest of the day. The solution

requires sensitivity and caring. Let the off ender know that he or she

has hurt you significantly, if that is indeed the case. There's no need

for you to try to hide your feelings.

Your mind is buzzing like a bee, Taurus. You’re apt to find that

there’s very little you can do to slow it down. Make sure you add

compassion to the chain that’s holding everything together. Also

make sure that you don't become a victim of your thoughts by losing

control over how you act simply because the voice in your head has

completely taken over.

This is one of those days in which you’re better able to stand back

and look at your emotions intellectually, Leo. Your freedom-loving

nature isn’t built to deal with heavy emotional baggage and

turmoil, so don't bother trying. Be especially wary of those who

seem to plop a problem in front of you and expect you to deal

with it.

Your engine may sputter this morning as your gears begin to turn,

Scorpio. It could be that you’re working out something important in

you mind that's helping clarify your emotions. The answer you seek

is probably nothing like the one you’ll find. By the time night comes,

you’ll have everything figured out. All the answers you need will be

right there in front of you.

Don’t be surprised if you leap out of bed with a spark of

inspiration that wasn’t there last night, Aquarius. Let your dreams

linger a bit before you face the world. This flash of genius is likely

to strike quickly and unexpectedly, so keep an eye out for it, but

don’t consider it something that you can plan on or force into

happening.

Mornings aren’t usually your best time, Gemini. You aren’t fully

awake until afternoon. Try not to discount the events of this

particular morning, however. More than likely, you’ll enjoy your

best mental clarity sometime before noon. Surprise people with an

upbeat attitude and a solution for every problem that comes your

way.

Prepare for a surprise today, Virgo. Perhaps it will come from

someone else or perhaps it will come from you. Either way, by

evening you’re apt to be feeling paced out. Give in to the lethargic

attitude that might sweep over you. This is your time to play, so put

work aside and have a good time while letting your emotions dictate

your actions.

Be careful not to overdo things today, Sagittarius. You may so

zealously want to meet your goals that you overshoot the mark

by quite a bit. Feel free to express your exuberance and let your

enthusiasm shine in whatever you do. At the same time, be careful

about getting so carried away that you don’t notice that you’ve

already reached the finish line.

Sometimes your emotions overtake your rational thoughts,

Pisces, and you end up acting on impulse. Today you’ll find that

your head and heart are aligned on significant issues, and that

they’re working well together. Try not to swing the other way

by becoming too rational. Your goal is to find the best working

balance.

How to pair sneakers with western outfits for womenE

xperiment and pair up your sneakers with a cocktail dress, tulle skirts or a pencil skirt to make a fashionable statement, say experts.

Soumen Das, Senior Marketing Manager, Skechers India, and Vijay Pal Singh Johal, Director, Truffle Collection, share some tips.

Pair your sneakers with your tulle skirts: Summer sandals with tulle skirt are way too mainstream. Be unique and be a showstopper! Pair your sneakers with your tulle skirt and get everyone complimenting you for your fashion taste.

Don your sneakers cocktail dress: Cocktail dresses are generally worn with high heels, why not try something different this time? Your cocktail dress and sneakers are just the perfect pairs to go with.

Formally informal: A great way to change things up while still strutting in your sneakers is matching them with your formal look. Formals and sneakers make a good combination and are noticeable enough because it is not the

monotonous wear.

With pencil skirts: Pencil skirts and sneakers are a fabulous match. The fashion of summer sandals is out of fashion now. Everyone seeks comfort. Pencil skirts no more mean pencil heels, they’re sneakers now. Match your sneakers and pencil skirt and get all eyes on you. It is a completely different match. A pair of sneakers could simply change the whole look and transform you into something new and unique.

Go floral: Sneakers can be paired with cute floral dresses and a chic sling bag for the perfect summer look which is effortless, stylish and very feminine.

For the cold: A knitwear sweater dress combined with a pair of sneakers looks super adorable and is the perfect outfit for a barbeque lunch or just a day at the mall.

An asymmetrical look: An asymmetrical maxi dress with a large tote bag and white sneakers make a very comfortable choice. — 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.

Anyone For Tennis?

AGASSIASHEBECKERBORGBUDGECASHCONNORSEDBERG

GRAFHENMANHINGISKINGLAVERLENDLMARTINEZMCENROE

NADALNAVRATILOVAROSEWALLSAMPRASSELESWILANDERWILLIAMS


COMMUNITYPUZZLES

Colouring

Answers

Wordsearch Codeword

ACROSS1. Get up, anyhow, and cook

breakfast (8)

5. From which nurserymen get

an income? (6)

9. Harden and dry the inside; it’s

liable to give way (8)

10. Less shaky, according to

company returns (6)

12. Heavens! There’s not much

bread left! (6)

13. The “lovely” colour on the

outside was revolting (8)

15. Indication that someone

is going to turn informer?

(4-4,4)

18. How camping amenities are

of benefit, virtually (2,3,7)

23. Might mother think about

hanging it in the cupboard?

(8)

24. For taste, put a few in the

tart (6)

26. Attack or mug and get a fine -

one pound! (6)

27. Keeping it quiet when you

don’t manage to catch fish

(8)

28. Name the bird, a swift, given

just the head and tail (6)

29. Leaning against the coop,

sing (8)

Super Cryptic Clues

Yesterday’s Solutions

Across: 1 Backbites; 6 Locum; 9 Syria; 10 Recovered; 11 Doubly sure; 12 Dora; 14 Unclean; 15 Dessert; 17 Duennas; 19 Earlier; 20 Rapt; 22 Drops a line; 25 Appertain; 26 Grant; 27 Satin; 28 Speedwell.

Down: 1 Based; 2 Carbuncle; 3 By all means; 4 Turns on; 5 Secured;6 Love; 7 Cargo; 8 Mad hatter; 13 As arranged; 14 Underpays;16 Eliminate; 18 Streams; 19 Expense; 21 Pipit; 23 Extol; 24 Grin.

DOWN1. Change quarters long after (6)

2. French blue (6)

3. Putting the horse and carriage

in is gruesome (7)

4. Learning about one French

river (4)

6. The vessel I take right back

again by myself (7)

7. Give out the money, holding

the flickering lamp (8)

8. Clear the dilapidated tents out,

harsh though it is (8)

11. Entertained like King Edward

(7)

14. Steal the pearl ear-drop

beneath (7)

16. Don’t allow a hotel employee

to join the strike (8)

17. By the usual means, grated

cheese is obtained (8)

19. Making the L silent in “pulse”

(7)

20. Two fellows and one cart can

reduce it to chaos! (7)

21. See getting drunk, with a girl

(6)

22. Bray. The intelligent will solve

that! (6)

25. Convinced the American, of

course (4)


COMMUNITY POP SPOT

Ward Thomas

Twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas have not

only become stars on the British country music scene but

hit number one on the UK mainstream Albums chart in

2016 with their second LP, Cartwheels.

It’s a diff erent story on the singles chart. Despite their

undoubted popularity, Ward Thomas have never had a UK

hit single.

Perhaps this might change with the release of their

latest single, Lie Like Me. The first track taken from their

upcoming third album, Restless Minds, it just could be that

Ward Thomas fans will buy the single because the new

album will not be available until October 5.

Lie Like Me deals with the issues involved in being on social

media. The need to appear perfect and be well-liked online

despite off line life often being rather diff erent.

The accompanying off icial video can be seen at www.

youtube.com/watch?v=8bq385GUyds.

A video detailing the creation of Lie Like Me is posted at

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuL2-4c6oKI

An acoustic version of the song is at www.youtube.com/

watch?v=tvRxF-aFix0

Lany

Singer Dua Lipa has not been averse to writing songs about

her past relationships. But the boot is on the other foot now

as her broken romance with Lany singer and songwriter

Paul Klein is laid bare on the American indie-pop trio’s

forthcoming sophomore album, Malibu Nights.

Paul described writing the songs on Malibu Nights as a

“cathartic experience.” It was his way of dealing with the

heartbreak he suff ered from Dua ending their relationship.

The raw emotion expressed in lead single, Thru These

Tears, perfectly captures the torment of a man desperately

struggling to cope with losing the love of his life while

trying to convince himself he will feel better in the fullness

of time.

Paul insists the track is “devastating but also really hopeful

and optimistic.” There is no off icial song video as yet but

see what you think by checking out the lyric video for Thru

These Tears at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkWTuvdFbJI

Galen Weston Band

A digital download of the Galen Weston Band’s latest

album, The Space Between, is being off ered to fans for free.

All 14 tracks can be heard in full at the Canadian jazz-rock

outfit’s off icial website. Visit www.galenweston.org/store/

the-space-between-digital/ where you will see a photo of

the album cover and a name your price box. Type 0 in this

to download the album free of charge.

Before doing so, scroll down the webpage to find a link to

the album. Click on this to hear The Space Between in its

entirety.

If you enjoy what you hear, Galen Weston’s 2015 debut

album, Plugged In, can also be downloaded for free.

The free download page is www.galenweston.org/store/

plugged-in-digital/ However, the album cannot be heard

here. Instead, the 12 tracks are posted at www.galenweston.

org/music-media/

The respective webpages also feature information about

Galen and both albums.

Bellini

It was 2009 when Italian/American indie-punk-rockers

Bellini released their third album. Although work on

new songs began as long ago as 2012, only now has The

Precious Prize of Gravity finally been followed up by their

fourth LP, Before The Day Has Gone.

Both albums, along with their second LP, 2005’s Small

Stones, can be found at (no www) bellini.bandcamp.com/

Click on the cover artwork to access each album and then

scroll down the resulting webpages to find the tracklistings.

Click on the arrow against each title to hear the songs.

Bellini’s 2002 debut album, Snowing Sun, is not on their

bandcamp page. However, it can be heard in full on the

Spotify or Deezer streaming websites.

By Geoff rey Rowlands

It is sometimes said of sports teams that the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The same is true for American country music duo Dan and Shay.

Things were not happening individually for Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. Dan was trying to establish himself as a songwriter while playing in a band called Bonaventure. Shay was also attempting to write songs while pursuing a largely unsuccessful solo career. As Dan remarked, the two men “couldn’t get a publishing deal to save our lives.”

Everything was changed by a chance encounter.

“We met at a party,” Dan stated. “We were both fairly new in Nashville. I’d come from Pennsylvania and Shay was from Arkansas. We’d both come to Nashville hoping to make it in the country music business.

“We didn’t know each other but we did have a mutual friend who brought Shay to the party and introduced us. It was one of those times when two people have an instant rapport. We started singing together, singing harmonies and cover songs. The other people at the party were obviously enjoying us and we kept going way into the early hours.

“Everything had gone so well that we said we should write together. Not in a few days though but that very day. A friend found us an open writing room and we wrote two songs together before we’d even known each other for 24 hours.”

The songwriting magic which had eluded them as individuals sparked into life when Dan and Shay joined forces. Their fi rst song was put on hold by country stars Rascal Flatts.

“That was a dream for us,” Shay recalled. “Rascal Flatts were, and still are, one of

our favourite bands. It was unbelievable that they should want our song. We kept writing together every day and then played gigs in small venues showcasing our songs.

“We’d been struggling to pay the rent and getting nowhere. Then everything clicked into place. We suddenly found folks listening to our songs and publishing deals on the table.”

Publishing deals were soon followed by recording contracts. But despite writing and performing their songs together, Dan and Shay had not thought of themselves as a duo.

“It was crazy,” Dan laughed. “We didn’t know we were a duo. Nobody told us we should be a duo. But we were writing the songs together and performing them together. We realised we didn’t really need to recruit other musicians and become a band. We thought we should just go for it as a duo.”

The boys found immediate chart success. Their 2013 debut single, 19 You and Me, hit number seven on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It was the fi rst track taken from Dan and Shay’s 2014 debut album, Where It All Began. The LP stormed straight to pole position on the Top Country Albums chart and reached number six on the Billboard 200.

“We knew we had a following,” Shay refl ected. “We’d played a lot of gigs, done some television, played at the Grand Ole Opry and opened for Hunter Hayes on his We’re Not Invisible tour. But we never expected to have a number one with our fi rst album. To say we were super excited is a massive understatement.”

Two more albums have brought Dan and Shay further success. 2016’s Obsessed stalled at number two in America but topped the UK Country Music chart. It also gave them another top ten entry on the Billboard 200 peaking at number eight. Their recently released self-titled third LP is another smash hit returning the duo to number one on the Top Country Albums

chart and number six on the Billboard 200.Their success has been maintained

despite some changes in Dan and Shay’s musical style.

“I think we’ve actually become better songwriters,” Dan suggested. “Having chart success makes you want to keep raising the bar in terms of the quality of your songs. Our fi rst record was a bunch of songs which were basically laptop demos. The second record was more experimenting, fi nding out who we were. Now we know, we’ve fi gured it out. We know where we want to go with our music.”

The duo are prolifi c writers and frequently collaborate with other songwriters. They will pen perhaps 60 or 70 songs for each album before gradually paring them down to the fi nal track-listing.

“We have occasional disagreements along the way,” Shay acknowledged. “But everything is unanimous by the end of the process. It’s not just us who have a say. A few folks from our management and label give their opinions but it’s our wives who are probably the best choosers of the right songs.”

While Dan and Shay enjoy working with other songwriters, they have never previously had a guest artist appear on any of their albums. This changed when Kelly Clarkson provided additional vocals on the track, Keeping Score.

“The song is about appreciating what you have rather than constantly measuring yourself against everybody else,” Shay explained. “It felt special when we recorded it but we agreed the song would sound better as a duet.”

“I think Shay is the best singer I’ve ever heard,” Dan added. “I knew we needed a duet partner who could match his vocal ability and there were very few who came to mind. But when we thought of powerful female vocalists, we reckoned Kelly Clarkson was outstanding. We sent her the song and got a positive response in no time. We think the fi nished product sounds great.”

Dan + Shay, a successful duo

in brief

TOGETHER: The songwriting magic which had eluded them as individuals sparked into life when Dan Smyers, left, and Shay Mooney joined forces.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018 15GULF TIMES

COMMUNITYSHOWBIZ

Britney treats sons to fi sh, chips

Singer Britney Spears treated her sons Sean and Jayden to fi sh and chips before her headline performance at Brighton Pride festival.

The boys also got to see Buckingham Palace and spend time on the beach at the seaside resort in South England, before she performed.

“The boys wanted fi sh and chips for dinner because Britney has always told them that’s what she has when she’s there. They stopped at a pebbly beach in Brighton as the boys have heard about them and want to see for themselves,” a source told mirror.co.uk.

The 36-year-old singer said she is “proud” of her sons. The Slumber party hitmaker can’t believe how quickly her brood is growing up, and how “gifted” they have become. – IANS

Russell defends director James Gunn

Actor Kurt Russell, who starred in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, has lent support to its director James Gunn, who got fired by Disney Studios after the filmmaker’s controversial tweets on paedophilia and rape resurfaced.

“It’s sad. But it’s a part of our fabric now and I get it. But I do think we’re getting a little too sensitive on maybe some of the wrong people,” Russell told Variety recently.

Last month, Disney severed its business relationship with Gunn after his controversial tweets were unearthed.

Not only Russell, other cast members of the film including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana have defended Gunn and signed an open letter asking the studio to re-hire the director. – IANS

PROUD: Britney Spears says she is “proud” of her sons.

SUPPORTIVE: Kurt Russell, above, and other cast members of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 have shown support for the director.

My daughter comes first, says Aishwarya

By Subhash K Jha

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s iconic status never comes in the way of her duties as a mother, a wife, daughter and daughter-in-law — in that order. She says she has tried to keep the atmosphere around daughter Aaradhya “as normal as possible”.

Just how she manages to fulfi l all her duties and still fi nds time to be one of India’s most recognised celebrities, is a mystery. Not to the lady herself, though.

“It’s something I’ve grown up with. From the time I was 18, I’ve been juggling with many responsibilities. My day begins at 5:30am. It has been that way from the time I remember. Of course, after Aaradhya my priorities have changed completely. She comes fi rst, everything else is secondary,” Aishwarya said.

“Do you know Aaradhya saw her mother’s fi lm for the fi rst time? I mean, she had of course seen me on television and doing songs. But Fanney Khan is my fi rst fi lm where she actually sat through the whole fi lm,” she added.

And what did Aaradhya think of her performance?

“I think her smiling eyes said it all. She had actually seen me shoot a part of my song in Fanney Khan. So when she heard there was a screening, she expressed a wish to see the fi lm with all her friends and their parents. So all her friends came with their parents and had a good time.

“I was happy to let Fanney Khan be the fi rst fi lm Aaradhya watches. It has a positive message for viewers of all ages and there’s nothing in it that children

cannot watch. In any case, Aaradhya is constantly singing and dancing at home, sometimes to my songs, sometimes to her father’s and her grandfather’s songs. It’s a normal household. We’re trying to keep the atmosphere around Aaradhya as normal as possible.”

Aishwarya is not one of those star moms whose child is seen more with the nanny than the mother.

Laughing at the observation, Aishwarya said: “Aaradhya does have a nanny. In fact, I am told I should have two of them because the one that I have, tends to take off on long holidays. But it doesn’t really matter. I like doing everything for Aaradhya myself, though with my kind of schedules it is not always possible to do so.”

But Aishwarya’s mother helps out.

The actress and former beauty queen said she grew up in an atmosphere where her mother was always hands-on.

“So it never even occurred to me that it could be otherwise.”

Managing her sprawling career and her domestic responsibilities is not easy.

“Every home maker who is a working woman is a hero. It requires a lot of juggling with time. And a supportive husband, which I luckily have.”

Aishwarya is looking at doing handpicked roles, like the one in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and now Fanney Khan.

“I always knew my role in Fanney Khan was small. When I was promoting the fi lm, I never gave the impression that I was there throughout the fi lm. Rakeysh Mehra and his wife P S Bharathi (who has co-produced Fanney Khan) narrated the idea to me and I loved it.”

It’s almost as though the role of the pop diva was written for Aishwarya.

“That’s how the audience have perceived my presence. Once I was on board, I became totally involved with the development of the character, her relationship with the character played by Rajkummar Rao, her clothes, the song... I loved the concept. And Anil Kapoor as the father of the daughter brought his personal emotions into the part. He was so sincere.”

Mehra has said Aishwarya contributed a lot to her character.

She says it was a “small but pivotal role”.

“I don’t look at my roles in terms of the footage. To me, the role should defi ne my personality and the character I am playing. But now Rakeysh needs to do a full-fl edged fi lm with me.” – IANS

“It’s something I’ve grown up with. From the time I was 18, I’ve been juggling with many responsibilities. My day begins at 5:30am. It has been that way from the time I remember”

DUTIFUL: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her daughter. Her iconic status never comes in the way of her duties as a mother, wife, daughter and daughter-in-law.


COMMUNITY

By Mudassir Raja

The African music industry is one that has always stood the test time. Sounds emerging from the continent that

has a billion people living in more than 50 countries, is the ancestral home to American genres like Jazz and the Blues. From Jazz which was used as the music of resistance, to Kwaito which spoke for the township youth and now the millennials who are revamping the African music notes by infusing sounds from the past with futuristic sounds of today’s time. Africa’s reputation as a musical powerhouse has become so strong over a period of time that musicians worldwide are turning to Africa for an abstract inspiration of musical

instruments used and the sound notes employed.

A diverse gathering of expatriates, overwhelmingly from African countries, recently enjoyed African music at Mövenpick Hotel Doha. The music lovers enjoyed the tunes and electronic beats of African music played by an adept DJ.

The music lovers gathered at Jazz Up, sports lounge of the hotel, to attend the evening, dedicated to the up-beat African music. DJ Dawit Bekele kept spinning some of his best tunes, from reggae, hip hop, dance hall, to R&B and urban.

Talking to Community, the DJ said, “I am an independent DJ. I love my job. It is beautiful to play music and to see the crowd having fun. I mostly play African songs. I am from Ethiopia so I also play songs from my country creating

a mesh of African music and US soundtracks.”

“I have been playing music as DJ for a long time now. I usually play music from East African countries like, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, and Kenya. People from different backgrounds come to listen to African music. Some Arabs also come. They like and enjoy it very much. Some of the music is in English. I play songs of well-known African and American singers,” He added, “I am a mechanical engineer. However, I love music and I also plan on doing a singing debut myself soon.”

Solomon Abera, organiser of the music event, said, “I invite famous singers from Ethiopia, other African countries and from America. I have been organising African music events in major hotels and gatherings in Qatar.”

“I continue to see people really enjoying the African music at the events. I see people enjoying the music especially on weekends after their work, unwinding to some up-beat tunes. The music high in-demand here in Doha because the city has heterogeneous population. I have also invited African-American singers from US.”

Kaval Siddhu, Communication Manager at the hotel, said, “Actually, our Jazz Up lounge has been here for a long time. We were thinking to bring something unique and new for people. We ran Bollywood Nights at the lounge for a month that ended just before the Ramadan.”

She added, “We are in the process of starting some new initiatives for our Jazz Up lounge. I have not seen much advertisement for African music. So, we thought why not to give an

African touch for the music lovers here. I personally like Zumba music. We received wonderful response from the people who attended the Thursday launch. We look forward to welcoming people for this wonderful and entertaining initiative.”

Community also spoke to some of the people who attended and enjoyed the music.

Abdul Jalil Sultan, an Ethiopian expatriate, said, “I loved being here. I enjoyed the different kinds of music played by the young DJ. I love listening traditional Ethiopian music and would definitely try and come to the African night again.”

Mohammad Abdul Rahman, another listener, said, “I really enjoyed the ambience and the dexterity of the DJ. I enjoyed my time listening to the African music. It is a rarity in Doha. People do not get many chances to listen to African music in public. There are a good number of expatriates from African countries. I would like the organisers to improve on the initiative; they need to bring in more variety. A mix of African and American music will do well for those who really want to enjoy jazz and other music genres.”

Sharing her experience of the music, Anna from South Africa said, “It was amazing. It was a wonderful experience. I will defi nitely like to listen to more of such music. It was a refreshing experience. I also want to see more such gatherings of African people in Doha.”

African upbeat notes enthral music lovers

A diverse gathering of expatriates recently enjoyed their day out

REGALED: The audience enjoying their time at the lounge with African music on the go. Photos by Nasar K MoideenUPBEAT: DJ Dawit Bekele played some of his best tunes, from reggae, hip hop, dance hall to R&B and urban.

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